Former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in relation to an alleged shooting in the San Francisco Bay area on Monday that left one man injured.
TMZ was the first outlet to report that the Mexican-American was facing the charge on Tuesday morning as the San Jose Police Department confirmed that Velasquez was a suspect yet refrained from stating whether the retired 39-year-old had been charged.
NBC Bay Area reported Velasquez’s involvement in the shooting in Morgan Hill, which is around 25 miles north of the famous American Kickboxing Academy where Velasquez trains and which helped mold lightweight great Khabib Nurmagomedov, and roughly 40 miles from Salinas, where Velasquez was born.
The San Jose Police's media relations office said that "the motive and circumstances surrounding this incident are still under investigation at this time", but online records showed that Velasquez is being held at the Santa Clara County jail without bail and will appear in court on Wednesday while registered as EGO439.
According to law officials, the man injured in the alleged incident was shot "at least once" close to the intersection of the Monterey Highway and Bailey Avenue and was "transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injures" after the shooting which was reported at 3:14 pm local time.
Attempted murder penalties are split into two degrees in California. For first degree attempted murder that was premeditated, deliberate, and willful, convictions can result in a life sentence without parole. For second degree attempted murder that wasn't premeditated, deliberate or willful, convicts can expect to spend anything from five to nine years behind bars in a California state prison and have their right to own, possess or acquire a firearm taken away.
Velasquez has not been seen in a UFC octagon since being knocked out in the first round of a 2019 bout against current heavyweight ruler Francis Ngannou in Phoenix.
Following an injury-plagued 14-3 MMA career, Velasquez has appeared in the WWE and with the Mexican Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide wrestling promotion.