Dana White praises Cain Velasquez’s decision to join WWE

UFC president Dana White has praised Cain Velasquez’s decision to retire from mixed martial arts and join WWE.

Former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Velasquez last fought back in February at UFC on ESPN 1 when he was defeated by Francis Ngannou via KO. Ever since then he’s been making a slow yet steady transition into the world of professional wrestling, which led to him announcing his official retirement from MMA recently.

During the UFC on ESPN 6 post-fight press conference, White gave his thoughts on the matter as Velasquez begins this new journey with WWE.

“I’m happy for him,” White said of Velasquez at the UFC on ESPN 6 post fight press conference (transcript via MMA Fighting). “Cain’s had some rough injuries that happened, the guy’s been a professional athlete for a long time, collegiate athlete, he’s a super nice guy. When it looks like it’s the end of your career and you’re looking at what to do next, it’s always hard for these guys to figure out what’s next. Where do I fit? What do I do?

“I was always like how is Cain going to wrestle? He’s having problems with his body in MMA and then I saw him doing the [lucha libre] wrestling whatever they call it with the mask on and I was like goddamn he’s pretty good. That’s cool.”

“I’m happy for him. I’m happy for his family. I hope he does well like Ronda [Rousey] did and makes a lot of money and I hope the fans over there love him.”

Cain Velasquez will make his official debut at WWE Crown Jewel on October 31 in Saudi Arabia where he is set to go head to head with Brock Lesnar, the man he defeated for the aforementioned heavyweight title back at UFC 121. The WWE Championship will be on the line in the bout.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/22/2019.