UFC President Dana White spoke with members of the media after Friday’s UFC on ESPN 6 event in Boston, and said he’s alright with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez putting his MMA career behind him for a pro wrestling career.
Dana admitted he was skeptical at first, but after seeing Cain’s in-ring debut for AAA in Mexico, his mind quickly changed.
“Cain’s had some rough injuries that have happened,” White said. “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 [lucha libre],’ (or) whatever they call wrestling with the mask on. I was like, ‘Goddamn, he’s pretty good.’ It’s cool.”
White noted that soon after Cain’s AAA debut he received a phone call from WWE, and he knew why they were calling. White indicated that it was an easy decision to allow Cain to pursue the next chapter in his athletic career. White also indicated that WWE was reaching out to him to get in touch with Cain.
“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.”
White said he hopes Cain can follow a similar, successful path that Ronda Rousey has, and make a lot of money inn WWE.
“I’m happy for him, I’m happy for his family, and I hope he does well like Ronda did and makes a lot of money,” White said. “I hope the fans over there love him.”
Cain previously told members of the media that Dana gave his full blessing, and was supporting him 100% in the new venture. Velasquez is now officially retired from MMA and UFC.
As we’ve noted, Cain has reportedly signed a multi-year deal with WWE, said to be very lucrative. Cain has wrestled two matches for AAA under a three-match deal, and WWE is allowing him to work the final match, to be decided soon by AAA. Cain’s in-ring WWE debut will come at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on October 31 when he challenges WWE Champion Brock Lesnar for the title. Cain will then team with Rey Mysterio to face Andrade and Drew McIntyre in tag team action on Saturday, November 30 at the WWE Supershow live event in Mexico City.
Stay tuned for updates on Cain’s WWE future.
