Cain Velasquez Talks WWE Debut, Facing Off Against Brock Lesnar, What Roman Reigns Said To Him

Cain Velasquez made his WWE debut on last night's SmackDown, confronting the new WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. The two are reportedly set to face-off at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on October 31.

After the show, Velasquez spoke with Marc Raimondi of ESPN about brawling with Lesnar in a WWE ring and how it compared to when they fought in UFC in 2010 when Velasquez took the UFC Heavyweight Championship from Lesnar.

"It was a different world, but it felt the same, the same intensity that was there from the first time we fought," Velasquez said. "The same feelings came back. It's a different world, yes, but those same feelings are there when he's staring at me and I'm staring at him, like, 'It's time to go.' ... The crowd reaction was awesome, the energy, it's something that I gotta take in more of and I will once I get better at this. I could feel the energy and people just loving it."

Although he did some training at the WWE Performance Center last year, the deal for WWE to bring in Cain happened on fairly short notice.

"Yeah, we just worked it out and do some things here and there," Velasquez responded. "I think it's a great story, a great rivalry between me and Brock. There's a strong tie from UFC to WWE now, it's the same type of feeling when I fought him in Anaheim [at UFC 121]."

Velasquez noted it was "surreal" to meet Vince McMahon and Triple H. At last night's show Cain recalled Roman Reigns telling him, "It's awesome to see you here and hopefully we see more of you here."

Fans may have noticed Cain wearing a knee brace on SmackDown and that's due to some torn ligaments in his knee. He was asked if that was something that would need surgery before he got into a WWE ring, but he didn't think so.

"No, it's good," Velasquez responded. "It's getting better, so just leave it the way it is. Work on getting better in the ring and getting conformable out there as much as I can."

You can see the full interview in the video below.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit ESPN with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.