Former UFC Champion Cain Velasquez Arrested on Attempted Murder Charge

The two-time heavyweight champion is being held at Santa Clara County jail.
Former UFC Champion Cain Velasquez Arrested on Attempted Murder Charge
Former UFC Champion Cain Velasquez Arrested on Attempted Murder Charge /

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was arrested Tuesday on an attempted murder charge for his involvement in a shooting in Morgan Hill, Calif.

Velasquez was booked into Santa Clara County jail on Monday and is being held without bail, according to online records. He is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday at 12 p.m. PT.

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The San Jose police department announced Monday evening it was investigating a shooting that occurred at 3:14 p.m. local time Monday. Police did not reveal the circumstances of the incident at the time but said that one adult male was shot and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. On Tuesday, police identified Velasquez as the shooter.

"The motives and circumstances surrounding this incident are still under investigation at this time," the San Jose Police said, per a public information Twitter account.

Velasquez, 39, is a two-time UFC heavyweight champion. He retired from mixed martial arts in October 2019 after a 26-second knockout loss to current heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Velasquez began a professional wrestling career the same year, joining Mexican professional wrestling promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide before moving to WWE.

He was released from his WWE contract in April 2020 due to budget cuts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Zach Koons
ZACH KOONS

Zach Koons is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about Formula One. He joined SI as a breaking/trending news writer in February 2022 before joining the programming team in 2023. Koons previously worked at The Spun and interned for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He currently hosts the "Bleav in Northwestern" podcast and received a bachelor's in journalism from Northwestern University.