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After getting knocked out by Francis Ngannou in his long-awaited return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Octagon earlier this year at UFC on ESPN 3 (video), Cain Velasquez turned around and competed in his first-ever pro wrestling match.
Competing for Lucha Libra Triple A, the former UFC Heavyweight champion showed off some pretty good moves for his debut. After getting some petty positive feedback, many wondered if Cain would leave the face-punching business to embark on a wrestling career full time.
During a recent sit-down on The Ariel Helwani MMA Show, Cain confirmed that he will fight again for UFC, but doesn’t want to give up his new gig.
“Yes, I will (fight again). Unless someone else tells me otherwise. I would love to fight again, but I want to keep doing this as well,” said Cain. “I think it would be possible (to do both). If both organizations are okay with it. Obviously I think I am an asset to both, so we will see what happens with that.”
In the past, UFC had a very strict rule about not allowing its fighters to take part in any other form of combat event for risk of getting injured. In fact, one of the major sticking points that prevented Fedor Emelianenko from competing for the promotion was the fact that UFC didn’t like the idea of “The Last Emperor” doing sambo while under contract.
Over the years, however, the promotion has softened its stance, as several fighters now take part in jiu-jitsu and wresting matches.
As far as Cain’s wrestling career, while he is happy with his current employer, he says his team has been in contact with other major promotions such as WWE and AEW.
“I’d like to wrestle for other places as well. We’ve been in talks with WWE. I’ve talked to Cody and AEW a little bit. I want to talk to them a little more. I think AEW is doing some good things,” he said.
“I’ve talked to him [Cody] a little bit, I want to talk to him a little more,” he said. “I think they are doing great things, I think AEW is doing some really cool things.”
Cain will next compete for Lucha Libre Triple A next month, and has two more matches to fulfill with the promotion. As far as his UFC return is concerned, he wouldn’t give a specific timeline for his comeback fight.