Cain Velasquez appears to cement move to wrestling with 'SmackDown' throwdown vs. Brock Lesnar

Tom Gatto

Cain Velasquez appears to cement move to wrestling with 'SmackDown' throwdown vs. Brock Lesnar image

It appears Cain Velasquez will get another shot at beating Brock Lesnar — this time, in a wrestling ring.

Velasquez confronted his old UFC foe at the end of WWE's Friday "SmackDown" debut show on Fox, after Lesnar beat Kofi Kingston for the WWE championship. With Rey Mysterio at his side, Velasquez strode to the ring while a clearly rattled Lesnar and manager Paul Heyman looked on.

Velasquez eventually speared Lesnar and rained punches on him before exiting.

The appearance was further proof that Velasquez will be leaving MMA for pro wrestling full time. USA Today reported earlier Friday that Velasquez told the UFC he intended to withdraw from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's (USADA) drug testing pool, which could be viewed as Velasquez giving up MMA.

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Velasquez began wrestling in August with Mexico's AAA promotion and received positive reviews for his in-ring work. He told Sporting News in September that he enjoyed wrestling and wanted to keep doing it, but he also wanted to eventually return to the UFC.

"I do plan on fighting again. I'm not sure when, but I will fight again," Velasquez told SN.

When asked why he wouldn't consider a full-time move to wrestling given how much he was enjoying it, Velasquez said, "I still love fighting. I'm still practicing and going to the gym at AKA (American Kickboxing Academy). It’s more so me just loving MMA and my love for the sport. I don’t feel that I’m done yet."

Velasquez, 37, defeated Lesnar for the UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 121 in 2010.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.