Report: Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez released by WWE

After just a short stint with the company, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez reportedly has been released by the WWE.

[autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag]’s WWE tenure did not last long.

According to pro wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer, Velasquez was cut from the roster as part of WWE’s releases and furloughs, Meltzer announced on Tuesday’s Wrestling Observer Radio.

After a few stints with the AAA promotion, Velasquez made his WWE debut this past October on Smackdown, which set up a match against former UFC foe Brock Lesnar for the WWE title at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.

Velasquez, who dethroned Lesnar in 2010 to win the UFC heavyweight title, was quickly defeated by Lesnar in their WWE match and hasn’t competed for the company since.

His last appearance in the UFC came in a first-round stoppage loss to Francis Ngannou in February 2019. After that, Velasquez withdrew from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency testing pool, effectively signaling his MMA retirement.

[vertical-gallery id=451521]

Top 10 MMA fighters of the 2010s: Discussion video, facts about our list

How did we reach our overall list, and did we get it right?

In pitching the MMA Junkie staff on coming up with a composite ranking of the top 10 fighters of the 2010s, I had people asking me about the criteria. My answer was simple: There is no criteria. Whatever you think it means to be among the 10 greatest fighters of the last decade, that’s the criteria.

To me, it’s better this way. I could’ve emphasized in-cage results, in which case No. 1 ends up being [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] without question. Same for emphasizing impact on the sport: [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] comes out on top easily. But what fun would that have been? There’s so much more to consider when trying to pick the top 10 fighters of the last 10 years among a pool of talent that never has been better.

The beauty of our list is that all 14 MMA Junkie staff members, who’ve spent so many years covering the sport, submitted individual top 10 lists. No discussion, no debate, no one person’s bias determined our final rankings. We all had a say in this. From there, it was a matter of mathematics – add up points for each fighter ranked and divide by 14 to determine the final rankings.

Did we get it right? There’s no such thing with these lists. But I’d like to think ours is as official as it gets.

For reaction to our top 10, watch the roundtable discussion video above with MMA Junkie’s John Morgan and Dan Tom, and MMA Junkie Radio’s “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”

Below is a ranking of all 26 fighters included, as well as notes about our list.

COMPLETE RANKINGS

1. [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]
2. [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag]
3. [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag]
4. [autotag]Georges St. Pierre[/autotag]
5. Conor McGregor
6. [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag]
7. [autotag]Ronda Rousey[/autotag]
8. Khabib Nurmagomedov
9. [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag]
10. [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag]
11. [autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag]
12. [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag]
13. [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag]
14. [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag]
15. [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag]
16. [autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag]
17. [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag]
18. [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag]
19-t. [autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag]
19-t. [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag]
21. [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag]
22-t. [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag]
22-t. [autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag]
24. [autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag]
25. [autotag]Carlos Condit[/autotag]
26. [autotag]Eddie Alvarez[/autotag]

NOTES

  • 26 different fighters were included in at least one staff member’s top 10
  • 8 different fighters were included in only one ranking
  • Individual No. 1 rankings: Jon Jones (7), Demetrious Johnson (3), Georges St-Pierre (2), Daniel Cormier (1), Ronda Rousey (1)
  • Cormier was the only fighter to be included in each of the 14 rankings.
  • Jones and Conor McGregor each were excluded from one staff member’s list.
  • Of 8 fighters included in only one ranking, Cain Velasquez was highest (No. 3); Eddie Alvarez was lowest (No. 10).

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Mike Bohn, senior reporter
1. Jon Jones
2. Georges St-Pierre
3. Jose Aldo
4. Demetrious Johnson
5. Anderson Silva
6. Conor McGregor
7. Max Holloway
8. Tony Ferguson
9. Khabib Nurmagomedov
10. Daniel Cormier

Dave Doyle, senior editor
1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Daniel Cormier
3, Jon Jones
4. Anderson Silva
5. Georges St-Pierre
6. Cris Cyborg
7. Jose Aldo
8. Khabib Nurmagomedov
9. Conor McGregor
10. Eddie Alvarez

Matt Erickson, assistant managing editor
1. Daniel Cormier
2. Demetrious Johnson
3. Amanda Nunes
4. Conor McGregor
5. Max Holloway
6. Patricio Freire
7. Ronda Rousey
8. Georges St-Pierre
9. Ryan Bader
10. Jose Aldo

Brian Garcia, MMA Junkie Radio host
1. Georges St-Pierre
2. Jon Jones
3. Daniel Cormier
4. Henry Cejudo
5. Demetrious Johnson
6. Khabib Nurmagomedov
7. Stipe Miocic
8. Amanda Nunes
9. Max Holloway
10. Ryan Bader

George Garcia, MMA Junkie Radio host
1. Jon Jones
2. Georges St-Pierre
3. Daniel Cormier
4. Khabib Nurmagomedov
5. Demetrious Johnson
6. Amanda Nunes
7. Cris Cyborg
8. Stipe Miocic
9. Conor McGregor
10. Henry Cejudo

Farah Hannoun, reporter
1. Jon Jones
2. Ronda Rousey
3. Conor McGregor
4. Demetrious Johnson
5. Khabib Nurmagomedov
6. Daniel Cormier
7. Amanda Nunes
8. Max Holloway
9. Stipe Miocic
10. Henry Cejudo

Ken Hathaway, senior video editor
1. Jon Jones
2. Amanda Nunes
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Max Holloway
5. Conor McGregor
6. Daniel Cormier
7. Georges St-Pierre
8. Anderson Silva
9. Khabib Nurmagomedov
10. Cris Cyborg

Simon Head, reporter
1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Daniel Cormier
3. Jon Jones
4. Amanda Nunes
5. Donald Cerrone
6. Georges St-Pierre
7. Conor McGregor
8. Douglas Lima
9. Cris Cyborg
10. Michael Bisping

Nolan King, reporter
1. Jon Jones
2. Daniel Cormier
3. Amanda Nunes
4. Demetrious Johnson
5. Max Holloway
6. Stipe Miocic
7. Georges St. Pierre
8. Jose Aldo
9. Conor McGregor
10. Khabib Nurmagomedov

John Morgan, lead staff reporter
1. Jon Jones
2. Conor McGregor
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Georges St-Pierre
5. Daniel Cormier
6. Demetrious Johnson
7. Amanda Nunes
8. Jose Aldo
9. Michael Bisping
10. Donald Cerrone

Simon Samano, managing editor
1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Georges St-Pierre
3. Jon Jones
4. Daniel Cormier
5. Khabib Nurmagomedov
6. Amanda Nunes
7. Tony Ferguson
8. Conor McGregor
9. Ronda Rousey
10. Max Holloway

Danny Segura, reporter
1. Ronda Rousey
2. Jon Jones
3. Cain Velasquez
4. Georges St-Pierre
5. Demetrious Johnson
6. Jose Aldo
7. Cris Cyborg
8. Conor McGregor
9. Khabib Nurmagomedov
10. Daniel Cormier

Abbey Subhan, video editor
1. Georges St-Pierre
2. Conor McGregor
3. Jon Jones
4. Daniel Cormier
5. Amanda Nunes
6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
7. Frankie Edgar
8. Anderson Silva
9. Carlos Condit
10. Ronda Rousey

Dan Tom, fight analyst
1. Jon Jones
2. Jose Aldo
3. Khabib Nurmagomedov
4. Dominick Cruz
5. Demetrious Johnson
6. Conor McGregor
7. Ronda Rousey
8. Daniel Cormier
9. Max Holloway
10. Tony Ferguson