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Cain Velasquez may have walked away from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to focus on his blossoming pro wrestling career with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), but he may not necessarily be done fighting.
According to Tito Ortiz, his new promoter over at Combate Americas, Campbell McLaren, has been in touch with the Cain — the former UFC Heavyweight champion — and he has expressed interest in fighting for the promotion.
More specifically, Tito says Cain is intrigued by the possibility of facing the winner of his upcoming fight against Alberto Del Rio — the promotion’s president — down the line.
“It’s not a one and done deal with Combate. I signed a three-fight, two-year contract with them. So there will be a fight after,” Ortiz said during a recent interview with Bloody Elbow.
“Campbell actually talked to Cain Velasquez and he said he’d like the winner of this. If Cain Velasquez can get to 205, I’m in. If he can make it to 210 I’m in.”
Indeed, Tito will face Del Rio in the pay-per-view (PPV) main event of Combate Americas’ Dec. 7 fight card, set for Payne Arena in Hidalgo, Texas. In an interesting twist, Tito will put his UFC Light Heavyweight title on the line, while “El Patron” puts up his WWE title.
As far as Velasquez fighting for another mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion, that may be a bit tougher as UFC may have a say in it if he still has fights left on his current deal with them.
Since 2015, Cain has only been able to compete three times inside the Octagon, as multiple injuries kept him on the sidelines for the majority of that time. In his last outing for UFC, Velasquez suffered a first round knockout loss to Francis Ngannou.