Cain Velasquez is a free man. The former two-time UFC heavyweight champion was released from prison Sunday after serving the past 11 months behind bars after a controversial 2022 shooting conviction.
Velasquez, 43, was sentenced to five years in a San Jose, California, prison on March 24, 2025, after being convicted of attempted murder and other charges, ending a three-year saga that was repeatedly delayed in the courts and ignited widespread outrage within the mixed martial arts community. Velasquez’s sentence included time served; the former champ spent nearly one year incarcerated following the 2022 incident, as well as nearly two years on house arrest with an ankle monitor.
Velasquez initially faced 10 felony charges after engaging in an 11-mile high-speed car chase with Harry Goularte, who remains accused of molesting Velasquez’s then 4-year-old son on “multiple occasions.” Velasquez fired several shots through his windshield from a .40-caliber handgun during the chase into a car carrying Goularte, Goularte’s mother and Goularte’s stepfather, Paul Bender, resulting in non-life threatening injuries to Bender due to a gunshot wound to his arm.
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Velasquez’s 10 charges ranged from attempted murder, shooting at a motor vehicle or aircraft, assault with a firearm, assault with a deadly weapon, willfully discharging a firearm from a vehicle and carrying a loaded firearm with intent to commit a felony. Velasquez pleaded no contest to all charges.
Goularte currently awaits a March 9 start date for his own trial after pleading not guilty to one felony charge of lewd acts with a minor.
Velasquez’s family has filed a separate civil lawsuit against the Goularte family and its businesses.
Prior to his incarceration, Velasquez expressed remorse for his actions and accepted whatever punishment came his way. Velasquez also said he had forgiven Goularte’s family for what happened; Goularte’s mother ran the daycare where the alleged molestation happened.
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“What I did was not correct,” Velasquez said. “I understand that. I paid and I’ll pay whatever else as far as what I have to do to pay all that back. I don’t think I can pay that back, but I can always learn from my mistakes and help others. It’s just information that you never know anybody. Trust your kids. Have that open communication with your kids.
“[But] the way that I handled things was not the way to do it. We cannot put the law in our own hands.”
Velasquez (14-3) is one of the most decorated heavyweights of his era. He first captured the UFC heavyweight title in 2010 with a first-round knockout of Brock Lesnar, then won the belt back again in 2012 with a revenge win over Junior dos Santos. A prodigious talent whose career was perennially snakebitten by injuries, Velasquez defended his championship twice with wins over Antonio Silva and in a trilogy bout against dos Santos, before suffering a 2015 loss to Fabricio Werdum. Velasquez only fought twice more — once in 2016 and once in 2019 — before stepping away from MMA entirely.
Velasquez then briefly pursued professional wrestling and even signed with WWE from 2019-20 before being released from his deal due to financial cuts during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
