Cain Velasquez, the former UFC heavyweight champion, was arrested Monday on suspicion of attempted murder and taken to the Santa Clara, California, County Jail, the San Jose Police Department said Tuesday morning.
Velasquez is being held without bail, according to online records. He has a court date for Wednesday.
The San Jose Police Department announced Monday night that a shooting broke out in the city near the intersection of Monterey Highway and Bailey Avenue. Police said an adult man was shot at least once and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. On Tuesday, police identified Velasquez as the shooter.
“The motives and circumstances of this incident are still under investigation,” the San Jose Police Department said on its public information Twitter account.
Velasquez, 39, is a two-time former UFC heavyweight champion who held the title in 2010 and 2011 and then again from 2012 to 2015. The California native is considered one of the best heavyweight fighters of all time. Velasquez retired from MMA in 2019 and trains at his longtime gym, American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose.
Velasquez’s team had not responded to a call for comment as of Tuesday morning.
After his run with the UFC, Velasquez began wrestling professionally, first in Mexico, where his parents were born, and then in WWE. He was released by WWE early in the pandemic in 2020 but resurfaced for Mexican promotion AAA in December. The plan, sources said, was for him to wrestle more this year.