Just imagine watching one of your favorite mixed martial artists getting sentenced to prison, even though you know that the fighter did so just to defend the honor of his children. Well, such is the scenario with the fans of Cain Velasquez. After spending a long time under house arrest, the former heavyweight champion faced a new sentence for his vigilantism back in 2022.

Wait… Are you wondering about Velasquez’s sentence? Or are you worried that the Mexican-American fighter will be behind bars for a long time? If yes, then you’ve come to the right place. Today, we’re gonna dive into the latest updates regarding the former UFC champion’s court appearance and learn what led to this state of affairs.

How long will Cain Velasquez be in prison?

On 24 March 2025, the world of combat sports went into dismay when Judge Arthur Bocanegra of the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose sentenced Cain Velasquez to 5 years in prison. The former 2-time UFC heavyweight champion had already spent around 8-9 months in prison before getting a conditional bail in November 2022. Of course, he had to pay $1 million for the bail. On top of that, Velasquez was placed under house arrest. With the ankle monitor on him, there was no way he could leave the premises of his house. 

Previously, ‘Cardio Cain’ pled not guilty, but the court later overturned the request to a no contest. On top of that, the prosecution put forth the idea of imprisoning Velasquez for 30 years. However, Judge Bocanegra claimed that the worst punishment for a father was to stay away from his children. And watching Velasquez interacting with his son and daughter brought tears in the Judge’s eyes, as he sentenced the heavyweight fighter to 5 years in jail. But his current sentence doesn’t really mean that Velasquez will have to spend the entirety of the 5 years in prison. Well, Judge Bocanegra credited him with 1283 days. This means that the former UFC champion would have to stay in prison for around 542 days.

No doubt, the world got confused with the credit time for Velasquez. And that’s when the famed MMA reporter Damon Martin swooped in with an explanation. Martin took to X and wrote, “Just to clear up any confusion — Cain Velasquez gets credit for time in jail and time he was on house arrest so that’s where it’s approximately 3 years. With good behavior, Cain will undoubtedly spend far less than 2 years in prison. Could end up being a year.”

But what exactly was Velasquez’s crime? What did ‘Cardio Cain’ do to deserve 5 years behind bars? Well, it all happened with an incident from 2022, when the heavyweight star was forced to respond to an attack on his then-4-year-old son.

What was the former UFC heavyweight champion’s crime?

It all happened in February 2022 when Velasquez was caught engaging in a high-speed pursuit of a vehicle carrying Harry Goularte and his stepfather, Paul Bender. But why was the retired MMA fighter chasing Goularte? Well, Goularte allegedly molested Velasquez’s son on multiple occasions. To make things worse, it was revealed that Goularte’s mother ran a daycare where Velasquez’s son went. On top of that, Goularte was already arrested in connection to lewd behavior with a 4-year-old at the daycare. But he was later released without bail, to be put under house arrest.

According to the officials, Goularte was on his way to get the ankle monitor on when Velasquez intercepted them. Not only did the interception result in a high-speed chase, but the MMA athlete also fired several shots from his handgun. But instead of hitting Goularte, the rounds pierced his stepfather Paul Bender and injured his left arm. For his actions, Velasquez had to face 10 charges of felony, including an attempt to murder. 

And now, it seems like the heavyweight star has realized his mistake. Taking to Kyle Kingsbury’s podcast, Velasquez publicly took responsibility of his actions. He said, “What I did was not correct. I understand that. I paid and I’ll pay whatever else as far as what I have to do to pay all that back.” Velasquez continued, “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… The way that I handled things was not the way to do it. We cannot put the law in our own hands.”

No doubt, many fight fans and professionals stood in favor of the former 2-time heavyweight champion. Even Dana White previously offered to help by sending a letter to the judge of Santa Clara County, backing his fighter’s good character. After all, the UFC head honcho had known him for about 15 years. Nevertheless, with the not-guilty plea turned to a no-contest, Velasquez will have to stay in prison for about 18 more months. 

What do you think of Velasquez’s punishment? Do you think the former heavyweight champion should have received a lesser sentence? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.