Former UFC fighter Cain Velasquez charged with attempted murder

Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez has been charged with attempted murder after a man was shot in California.

San Jose Police said on Tuesday that a shooting had taken place. They added that one adult male that was shot “at least once” was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

San Jose Police stated: “Cain Velasquez was the suspect arrested yesterday in connection with this incident. He was booked into Santa Clara County main jail for attempted murder.

“The motive and circumstances surrounding this incident are still under investigation at this time.”

According to TMZ, jail records show that Velasquez has a court date set for Wednesday. The Denver Post reported that Velasquez targeted a man charged with molesting a relative of the MMA fighter.

The report states: ‘Velasquez’s shots wounded the defendant’s stepfather in the encounter off Monterey Highway and Bailey Avenue on the southern edges of San Jose, multiple law-enforcement sources confirmed.

‘That evening, Velasquez, 39, a former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion based out of San Jose, was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail and is being held without bail.’

Who is Cain Velasquez?

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Cain Velasquez is a two-time UFC heavyweight champion. He secured victory over WWE star Brock Lesnar to win the belt in October 2010. The performance earned him the Knockout of the Night award.

After a year outside of the Octagon, he took on Junior dos Santos in November 2011 in his first title defence, which he lost via submission.

He became a two-time champion in December 2012, defeating dos Santos in a rematch via unanimous decision.

Velasquez was due to fight Fabricio Werdum in 2016. However, he withdrew due to injury. His last UFC fight before retirement took place against Francis Ngannou in 2019. He lost via knockout. He subsequently announced his retirement from MMA.

The American then began a professional wrestling career. He took on Brock Lesnar in a WWE Championship match in 2019, which he lost. In 2020, WWE released him from the company.

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