Cain Velasquez: who is former UFC heavyweight champion and WWE wrestler - and why has he been arrested?

Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez was arrested on Monday on an attempted murder charge.

The 39-year-old was taken to jail in California after a shooting took place in San Jose, with one man taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The police identified Velasquez as the alleged shooter.

It had been reported that Velasquez allegedly confronted a man in Morgan Hill, California who was charged with committing lewd acts on one of Velasquez’s young family members.

In a statement published on Twitter, San Jose Police wrote: “Cain Velasquez was the suspect arrested yesterday in connection with this incident.

“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.”

Velasquez became UFC heavyweight title when he beat Brock Lesner in 2010.

The former fighter lost his belt to Junior dos Santos, but reclaimed the title back in 2012 and remained champion for another three years.

Velasquez announced his retirement from MMA in October 2019 and moved into wrestling.

The American featured in WWE but was released from his contract in 2020 after the Covid-19 pandemic affected professional wrestling budgets.

He is currently being held without bail in Santa Clara County main jail and is due to appear in court today (Wednesday).