Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is charged with attempted murder

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is facing an attempted murder charge in California following a non-fatal shooting in the San Jose area.

Velasquez is being held without bail until his first court date on Wednesday.

The San Jose Police announced the shooting near the intersection of Monterey Highway and Bailey Avenue on Monday evening before revealing Velasquez’s arrest on Twitter the following morning.

‘Cain Velasquez was the suspect arrested yesterday in connection with this incident,’ read the Tweet from San Jose police. ‘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.’

One male victim was rushed to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening injury after being shot ‘at least once,’ according to police. 

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is facing an attempted murder charge in California following a non-fatal shooting in the San Jose area

He retired in 2019 following a 26-second defeat to current heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou on February 17, 2019 (pictured) 

The 39-year-old Velasquez is a two-time UFC heavyweight champion, having won the title in 2010 before losing it in 2011 and regaining it from 2012 until 2015.

He retired in 2019 following a 26-second defeat to current heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou on February 17, 2019. Since then, he has wrestled in the WWE and Mexico, but has mostly focused on training other fighters at his longtime gym in San Jose.

Velasquez is a married father of two, according to multiple reports.

Born in Salinas, California and raised in Yuma, Arizona, Velasquez was a star wrestler in high school and won a pair of state championships. He would later win an NJCAA national title while wrestling at Iowa Central Community College. Later, he transferred to Arizona State, where he compiled a record of 86–17 for the Sun Devils.

It was at ASU in Tempe, Arizona, where he first worked with future UFC fighters, such as Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway.

From there Velasquez began studying Jiu-Jitsu and later made his way over to MMA in 2006.

Cain Velasquez works out with light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier during a media day at American Kickboxing Academy on January 5, 2016 in San Jose, California. Velasquez has primarily focused on training others at AKA since his retirement in 2019