Cain Velasquez Retires From MMA to Sign With WWE

Sources: Cain Velasquez retires from UFC, joins WWE https://t.co/VGn2xzflNn

— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) October 11, 2019

The long chapter of mixed martial arts in the book of former heavyweight king Cain Velasquez's career has come to an end.

ESPN announced on Friday that Velasquez is officially retiring from MMA and has informed the Ultimate Fighting Championship of his intentions to leave the sport. The 37-year-old will be joining WWE, where he has signed a multiyear contract with the wrestling organization.

Velasquez made his wrestling debut at a promotion called Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide earlier this year, where he appeared at two shows to rave reviews. Velasquez then came on to a recent WWE Smackdown show last Friday, where he faced off against a former nemesis in ex-UFC and now-WWE champ Brock Lesnar. It has since been announced that Velasquez will be taking on Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on Oct. 31, where unbeaten heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury will compete against Braun Strowman as well.

Velasquez annihilated Lesnar at UFC 121 to win the heavyweight crown in 2010. From there, he suffered a knockout loss to Junior dos Santos, but went on to get that belt back by beating dos Santos twice at UFCs 155 and 166 to win back and defend his throne, respectively. With his MMA career plagued by injury, Velasquez only competed once dating back to July 2016, where he was knocked out in 26 seconds by Francis Ngannou at the inaugural UFC on ESPN card in February. Velasquez retires from the sport still holding the record for the most knockouts in modern UFC heavyweight history with 10, tied with Derrick Lewis.