Cain Velasquez’s three-year wait to learn his fate ended Monday when the former two-time UFC heavyweight champion was sentenced to five years in prison for attempted murder and other charges stemming from a 2022 attempted shooting of Harry Goularte, the man accused of molesting Velasquez’s then 4-year-old son on “multiple occasions.”
Velasquez, 42, faced 10 felony charges after engaging in an 11-mile high-speed car chase with Goularte and firing several shots through his windshield from a .40-caliber handgun into a car carrying Goularte, Goularte’s mother and Goularte’s stepfather, Paul Bender, the latter of whom suffered non-life threatening injuries due to a gunshot wound to his arm. Velasquez’s prison sentence included time served, which should limit the time he spends locked away; Velasquez spent nearly one year incarcerated following the 2022 incident as well as nearly two years on house arrest with an ankle monitor.
Goularte currently awaits his own June 2 trial date after pleading not guilty to one charge of lewd acts with a minor. Velasquez’s family has also filed a separate civil lawsuit against the Goularte family and their businesses; Goularte’s mother ran the daycare where the alleged molestation happened.
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Velasquez’s case has been the subject of intense debate and scrutiny over the past three years due to the sensitive details involved and the former champ’s status as a much-loved figure within the sport. Unsurprisingly, the MMA world rallied to Velasquez’s defense en masse following Monday’s verdict.
On Wednesday, Velasquez’s longtime agent Mike Fonseca issued the first statement from Team Velasquez to Uncrowned, speaking on the trial’s outcome and the journey to reach this point:
Monday was a day full of mixed emotions but we finally have closure after what has been a challenging, frustrating and heartbreaking last three years.
What Cain and his family have gone through, is every family’s worst nightmare. I’ve sadly learned more than I ever wanted to know about child sexual abuse, and the cruel realities of a broken legislative system as well as a complex justice system. I have seen firsthand the stress and the trauma that any one of these sequence of events can have not just on our families, but the communities we live in.
But above all else, I’ve learned about what it truly means to be a man of great character, integrity and conviction. Cain has always been a gentle giant, one of the kindest and sweetest men I’ve ever known. What he has been through and more importantly how he has handled the consequences of his actions is a lesson in honor. Cain never once made excuses. To the contrary; he stood up and was immediately accountable for his actions, asking for forgiveness and praying for healing for the victims, his family, friends and the community at large. None of us will ever know firsthand what Cain has lived through. He started with nothing as a Mexican-American son of farm workers, and persevered to become one of the greatest UFC champions of all time. Along the way, Cain suffered plenty of trauma — both physically and mentally — but never sought the spotlight nor the fame nor the money. Love, family and integrity remained his guiding light. Today he is at peace with life. Nothing makes Cain happier than the ability to help others.
My hope is we can find some solace in what Cain regrettably did, the impact that had on so many lives, the responsibility he took for those actions and what he will do to make the world a better place when he returns home. But for today, hug your child or your loved ones just a little longer in honor of our beloved friend Cain.
Velasquez (14-3) is one of the most decorated heavyweights in UFC history. He first won the heavyweight title in 2010 with a knockout of Brock Lesnar, then captured the belt for a second time in 2012 with a dominant win over the man who ended his initial reign, Junior dos Santos. A prodigious talent whose career was often derailed by injuries, Velasquez twice defended his title — over Antonio Silva and in a trilogy bout against dos Santos — before suffering a 2015 upset loss to Fabricio Werdum. Velasquez only fought twice more, once in 2016 and once in 2019, before hanging up his four-ounce gloves for good.
