SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez pleaded not guilty Monday to felony attempted murder, assault and weapons charges in a case involving a man who allegedly sexually abused one of Velasquez's children.
Velasquez was charged in March in San Jose, California, after he allegedly shot at a pickup truck carrying a man accused of sexually abusing a 4-year-old family member.
Prosecutors said that Feb. 28, Velasquez chased a pickup truck carrying the man and the man's parents at high speeds through three Silicon Valley cities and rammed it with his own truck. He fired a .40-caliber pistol at the vehicle several times, wounding the man's stepfather, who was driving, in his arm and torso, prosecutors said.
Velasquez was released from jail Nov. 9 on $1 million bail and ordered to wear a GPS monitoring device.
Sources told ESPN's Marc Raimondi that Velasquez's team has been in discussion with Lucha Libre AAA about him performing on the promotion's Dec. 3 event in Tempe, Arizona, since last week. A deal is in place for Velasquez to do it, sources said, pending the court decision, which could come as early as Tuesday. Velasquez would actually wrestle in a match and not just come out to greet the crowd.
The lucha libre show will be held at Arizona State University's Mullett Arena, which has special significance for Velasquez. He was a two-time All-American college wrestler at Arizona State. Velasquez, a Mexican-American who grew up a lucha libre fan, has performed for AAA before, beginning in 2019 with his last appearance coming in December 2021.
Information from ESPN's Marc Raimondi and the Associated Press was used in this report.
