Earlier today during a pre-Smackdown press conference at T-Mobile Arena, WWE announced that the debut match of MMA legend Cain Velasquez would be against Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia announce.
ESPN followed the news quickly with the announcement that Velasquez’s appearance wouldn’t be a one-off, and that he’d not only signed with the company, but for a, ‘lucrative, multi-year’ deal.
#WWEChampion @BrockLesnar and @cainmma come face-to-face ahead of their match on Oct. 31 at #WWECrownJewel! pic.twitter.com/PAmfKXAOlg
— WWE (@WWE) October 11, 2019
Via ESPN:
There are reportedly concerns from Fury’s camp about the cut over his right eye — suffered against Wallin — opening up in a WWE match. Fury needed 47 stitches for multiple cuts following that 12-round bout.
Velasquez, meanwhile, will be in WWE much longer. Sources told ESPN that he has signed a lucrative, multiyear contract with WWE and has also notified the UFC of his retirement. He has been removed from the UFC’s United States Anti-Doping Agency drug-testing pool and the UFC heavyweight rankings.
WWE also confirmed that with Velasquez’s signing, it means an official retirement from mixed-martial arts. Velasquez impressed in his lucha libre debut earlier this year, and was reportedly even in talks to appear in New Japan Pro Wrestling before popping up on last week’s Fox debut of Friday Night Smackdown. Velasquez and Lesnar cross paths in Saudi Arabia on October 31.
