Former UFC heavyweight champion and WWE wrestler Cain Velasquez was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly shot a man.

San Jose police announced on Wednesday (AEDT) that Velasquez was arrested in conjunction with a shooting, in which an adult male was hospitalised with non-life threatening injuries after being shot.

Watch UFC 272: Covington vs Masvidal LIVE on Main Event available on Kayo & Foxtel, Sunday 6th March from 2pm AEDT. ORDER NOW >

The Mercury News reports that the man who Velasquez allegedly shot was recently charged with molesting a close relative of the former UFC star, according to sources and court records.

The same report goes on to state that court records show a series of events that began last week after a relative of Velasquez’s relative reported being molested by a man at a home daycare in San Martin, California.

The man accused is 43-year-old Harry Eugene Goularte, who lives at the home where the daycare is located and ran by his mother, according to a criminal complaint that charged him with one felony count of a lewd and lascivious act with a child under the age of 14.

Velasquez was a two-time UFC heavyweight champion, winning the title from Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 in 2011 before dropping it to Junior dos Santos.

He then regained the belt from dos Santos in 2013, defending it successfully on two occasions before being dethroned by Fabricio Werdum.

After two more fights, a win over Travis Browne at UFC 200 and a 26-second knockout loss to Francis Ngannou in 2019, Velasquez retired from mixed martial arts and went into pro wrestling.

In WWE, he failed to defeat Lesnar for the heavyweight championship at a controversial show in Saudi Arabia, after which wrestlers were reportedly held on their plane on the tarmac by order of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over a payment dispute.

Velasquez has also wrestled for Mexican lucha libre company AAA.