Ex-UFC champ Cain Velasquez gets five years in prison for attempted murder

Cain Velasquez was sentenced to five years in prison by a California judge on Monday. 

The former UFC heavyweight champion appeared at the Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose for sentencing three years after he pled no-contest to charges that included premeditated attempted murder and felony assault plus other gun-related offences.

Velasquez was arrested in February 2022 after being accused of trying to kill a man who allegedly molested his young son at a daycare. A separate criminal case regarding those allegations is set to begin in June with the accused, Harry Goularte, pleading not guilty to child molestation charges.

A statement from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office at the time of Velasquez’s arrest detailed an 11-mile, high-speed chase through busy California streets into San Jose where Velasquez rammed his truck into another truck that was carrying the man who allegedly assaulted his son, and Velasquez fired multiple rounds into the vehicle with a registered .40mm handgun where one passenger sustained a non-life-threatening injury.

After initially being denied bail following his arrest, Velasquez was eventually released on $1 million bail and placed under house arrest in November 2022 after roughly eight months of incarceration.

The prosecution was asking for Velasquez to serve 25 years to life in prison, while the defence was seeking probation with no prison time.

Velasquez, 42, had recently opened up about his future on a March 14 episode of Kyle Kingsbury’s podcast (Kingsbury was a former teammate and training partner of Velasquez).

“From what I can say, as far as myself, the way that I handled things was not the way to do it. … We cannot put the law in our own hands,” Velasquez told Kingsbury. “I understand what I did and I’m willing to do everything I have to pay that back.

“Whatever the court feels correct for what I have to do, I’m going to do it with my head up and still be me and not play the blame game. It was me that did that and reacted in that way.”

The MMA star echoed that sentiment in similar remarks made in court earlier on Monday before sentencing.

Velasquez made his UFC debut in 2008 in just his third professional fight and became the organization’s heavyweight champion in 2010 when he defeated Brock Lesnar. He retired from MMA in 2019 with a 14-3 pro record.

With files from Associated Press