UFC President Dana White says that some fighters have issues when their professional MMA careers come to an end, but that wasn’t the case with Velasquez.
“Cain’s had some rough injuries that have happened,” White said at the UFC Fight Night Boston post-fight press conference (via Nolan King of MMA Junkie). “The guy’s been a professional athlete for a longtime – a collegiate athlete. He’s a super nice guy. When it looks like it’s the end of your career and you’re looking at what to do next, it’s always hard for these guys to figure out what’s next. ‘Where do I fit? What do I do?’ I was always like, ‘How’s Cain going to wrestle? He’s going to have problems with his body in MMA.’ Then I saw him doing the ‘loobra libay,’ (or) whatever they call wrestling with the mask on. I was like, ‘Goddamn, he’s pretty good.’ It’s cool.”
Velasquez has limited pro wrestling experience, just competing a few times for AAA in Mexico, primarily taking part in six man tag team matches.
White also says that he got a call from the WWE to inquire about signing the former UFC Heavyweight Champion.
“I got a call from WWE,” White said. “I knew. I knew what they were thinking. I was totally cool with it from the minute they called me. They didn’t even ask me. They were just looking for Cain. I figured that’s exactly what they were going to do because it completely makes sense.”
WWE Crown Jewel takes place on Thursday, October 31 from the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with no main event announced at this time. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on the WWE Network.
