Former UFC Champ Cain Velasquez Arrested For Attempted Murder After Bay Area Shooting

Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez has been arrested on an attempted murder charge following a shooting in California this week.

The shooting occurred on Monday afternoon in San Jose’s Morgan Hill, according to the San José Police Department, near the 101 freeway on the south side of the city.

They stated that “one adult male” was “shot at least once” before being transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Following the shooting, Bay Area outlet ABC7 flew over the scene and saw several police vehicles surrounding a pick-up truck that was on the side of the road. All the doors of the pickup were open. The incident blocked off traffic in both directions for at least an hour, according to police.

Velasquez, 39, was arrested at the scene and booked into Santa Clara County main jail for attempted murder. 

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

Velasquez lives in the Bay Area, not far from where the shooting occurred, but was born 60 miles south of San jose in the town of Salnis, according to San Jose NBC News affiliate KNTV.  It’s not clear if he has a lawyer.

According to CBS Sports, Velasquez is considered among MMA's greatest heavyweights. He earned a UFC heavyweight championship after beating Brock Lesnar in a first-round TKO in 2010. He retired from MMA in 2019. Following his retirement, Velasquez wrestled for WWE, fighting Lesnar again in 2019 in Saudi Arabia, the New York Post reports.

He was let go from the WWE in 2020, apparently as a result of COVID-19 budget cuts. His Instagram account shows pictures of him wrestling for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide in December.

The former fighter is currently being held without bail. The San José Police Department told Oxygen.com on Tuesday that they can not comment further or provide any additional information at this time.