Former UFC Champ Cain Velasquez Debuts to Confront Brock Lesnar on WWE Smackdown Fox Premiere

Brock Lesnar has a ghost from his UFC past to deal with on WWE Smackdown it seems. After brutalizing Rey Mysterio and his son Dominic on WWE Raw on Monday, it would seem that the legendary masked wrestler called in some backup to handle the former UFC champ.

Namely Cain Velasquez, a former UFC champ himself and the man who served Lesnar his second MMA loss to take the title. The former UFC fighter is not a stranger to professional wrestling but his appearance in Los Angeles for the Fox premiere of WWE Smackdown did shock a few people, particularly Lesnar.

In the closing moments of the show, following Lesnar’s effortless win over Kofi Kingston to capture the WWE Undisputed Championship, Velasquez and Mysterio hit the stage and headed for the ring. This cut Lesnar’s celebration short and gave WWE a legitimate contender against “The Beast Incarnate.”

According to ESPN, Velasquez has yet to officially sign with WWE as a performer but has decided to stick with professional wrestling going forward. The former UFC champ has not officially retired from the Octagon but has decided to change his focus.

ESPN adds that Velasquez also claimed he had talks with New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling, who just made their TV debut Wednesday. It would seem that WWE is his goal, making him the latest UFC star to make the transition following Ronda Rousey, Lesnar, and NXT star Matt Riddle.

Velasquez made his wrestling debut back in August as part of Lucha Libre AAA’s Triplemania XXVII. The UFC star took on the persona and mask of El Toro, with ESPN reporting that he traveled through Mexico City to promote the event as part of the organization’s parade.

“To me, it’s tradition,” Velasquez said at the time according to ESPN. “Wrestlers before me — the greats — have done this. To me, it was like, of course I want to do this. My agent was kind of like, ‘We don’t have an exit strategy.’ I said, ‘F it, man — then we don’t have an exit strategy.’”

The fighter’s presence in WWE provides an instant main event attraction for the title. While the company’s marquee event, Wrestlemania, is still a little less than a year away, there are opportunities for the company to utilize the two MMA vets in a marquee matchup. This includes the upcoming Crown Jewel return to Saudi Arabia on Halloween.