Who is Cain Velasquez? Profile, MMA Career & Pro-Wrestling
Cain Velasquez is MMA and professional wrestler. He is a former NCAA Division I Wrestler who won the 5A Arizona Wrestling Championship twice, NJCAA National Championship in the heavyweight (285 lbs) division. Velasquez started his MMA career directly after school by joining the American Kickboxing Academy. Velasquez is a brown belt in Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu under Dave Camarillo and a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Leandro Viera.
He is mostly known for his prowess in MMA where he has 15 win under his belt. He last fought Francis Ngannou in UFC after returning from a back injury. He lost the fight in the 1st round via TKO, which has been his only third loss in MMA. He has retired from MMA and started focusing on a pro-wrestling career by signing a multi-year deal with WWE.
Highlights of his MMA Career
- UFC 104 –Velasquez vs Rothwell- Won the fight via 2nd round KO at 0:58 secs. The fight ended bit controversially as Rothwell thought it was an early stoppage.
- UFC 110 – Velasquez vs Nogueira – Won the fight via TKO again in the very first round of the match at 2:20 secs.
- UFC 121 – Velasquez vs Brock Lesner (Main event- Heavyweight Championship)- Demolished Lesnar in the very first round again via TKO at 4:12 seconds. Both men were throwing at each other where Velasquez was getting better of the strikes, but Velasquez dominated the round before the KO. He became the UFC heavyweight Champion.
- UFC 155- Velasquez vs Dos Santos 2- Very important fight of his career as he was looking to avenge the loss the only loss in his career. A delight for the MMA fans both went the distance, but Velasquez won the fight by Unanimous decision.
- UFC 166 – Velasquez vs Dos Santos 3 – The third fight was destined to happen as both men took 1 each of the previous 2 matches. This time Velasquez was defending his Heavyweight title. And he won the match by TKO in round 5.
- UFC 200 – Velasquez vs Travis Browne – Important fight as he was coming from an injury and a long break. Won the by fight by TKO in the very first round of the match.
Entry to the Pro-Wrestling World
Velasquez started training for pro-wrestling in 2018 and appeared at WWE Performance Center. Later, he also appeared at an NXT TV taping.
In March 2019, Velasquez signed an agreement with top Mexican promotion- Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, as a heavyweight contender. Velasquez made his first appearance for the promotion at Triplemanía XXVII in 6 man tag team match, partnering with Cody Rhodes and Psycho Clown to take on Texano Jr, Taurus, and Killer Kross.
Working in a Luchador mask, Velasquez’s presentation shocked numerous fans with his athletic moves like hurricanrana and others. Velasquez grabbed the win for his group by submitting Texano Jr. with a Kimura lock. Velasquez’s in-ring presentation got positive audits by Dave Meltzer and numerous other expert wrestling columnists.
Although, Cain’s biggest pro-wrestling moment came when he debuted in WWE at SmackDown’s Fox Premiere. He came out to confront recently crowned WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, tackling him down and rain him with punches. Velasquez is expected to face Brock Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel 2019 show in Saudi Arabia.