Could Cain be making the transition?
This past Tuesday WWE announced the newest class of recruits who have been sworn in as WWE superstars and will be working under the NXT brand and training at the Performance Center in Orlando. On that list was former PWG World Champion Keith Lee, Io Shirai, Deonna Purrazzo and other notable names.
Today the Performance Center saw a new face and that was the face of former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez. The 14-2-0 fighter had his last bout two summer's ago in 2016 at UFC 200 where he defeated Travis Browne via TKO. Last night at the NXT TV tapings at Full Sail, Cain Velasquez was in attendance and he was filmed by the cameras during the NXT TV broadcast.
Today, WWE sent out the following notification and published an article on their website which read that Cain Velasquez did train at the WWE Performance Center and learned under former CMLL World Heavyweight Champion Norman Smiley and Cain also partook in a DDP Yoga session hosted by the don of the workout program himself, Diamond Dallas Page.
In 2010 Cain defeated Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 to become UFC Heavyweight Champion and after dropping the title to Junior dos Santos, Cain become UFC Heavyweight Champ for a second time by defeating dos Santos. While speaking with WWE following his experience at the P.C., Cain had the following to say:
“My experience here has been amazing,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to being here and learning as much as I can. I’ve been a fan of the sport since I was a little kid, and now I get to participate in it.”
Below is the full press release by way of WWE.com on Cain Velasquez training at the Performance Center :
"One of the greatest heavyweights in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship trained alongside NXT Superstars this week at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla.
Two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez stepped inside the ring to learn techniques under WWE PC coach Norman Smiley and participated in a session of DDP Yoga led by WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page. Velasquez also worked out in the WWE PC’s weight room and attended last night’s NXT tapings at Full Sail Live.
The 6-foot-1 Velasquez, who sports a 14-2 record inside the Octagon, famously defeated Universal Champion Brock Lesnar as well as Junior Dos Santos to secure his two reigns with the UFC Heavyweight crown.
A product of the acclaimed American Kickboxing Academy, Velasquez holds an astonishing number of records among the UFC Heavyweight ranks, including the most knockouts and the highest significant strike percentage in the history of the heavyweight division.
The UFC icon, a lifelong fan of WWE and Mexican lucha libre, praised the athletes and atmosphere of the Performance Center.
“My experience here has been amazing,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to being here and learning as much as I can. I’ve been a fan of the sport since I was a little kid, and now I get to participate in it.”
Velasquez, of course, is not the first MMA legend to walk through the doors of the WWE PC, with the likes of NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler training at the Performance Center and Raw Superstar Ronda Rousey having worked out there prior to making her WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania."
Back in February, Velasquez attended WWE's 'Elimination Chamber' PPV and jokingly sent out a tweet noting that he would not mind taking another belt off of the current WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar.
As mentioned, Cain was at the NXT TV tapings and to take a look at the full spoilers from those tapings, click here.
