“Today’s results are bittersweet — we had hoped Mr. Velasquez would remain out of jail”, Cain Velasquez’s defense attorney claimed in a written statement right after the MMA star was sentenced to 5 years in prison on 24 March 2025, by the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose. Well, ‘Cardio Cain’ has spent around 9 months in incarceration, and got out with a $1 million worth of conditional bail. And now, he pleaded no contest to the charges, which included a charge of attempted murder. However, many netizens believed that Velasquez did what any father would do. And it seemed like Judge Arthur Bolcanegra was also of a similar mind.

On 28 February 2022, Velasquez fired a handgun while pursuing a vehicle at high speed. It was later revealed that the pursued vehicle carried Harry Goularte, who allegedly abused Velasquez’s then-4-year-old son. However, during the MMA star’s vigilante act, Paul Bender, Goularte’s stepfather, who was also in the vehicle, was injured in the arm. The UFC fighter’s legal troubles got him 10 charges of felony. And with Judge Belcanegra’s 1283 days’ credit, he would have to be behind bars for 542 days.

As the internet boomed with news about ‘Cardio Cain’s sentence, Amy Larson took to X and revealed an emotional moment for the fighter. She shared pictures of Velasquez interacting with his son and daughter while taking in the final breaths of freedom. But while the prosecutors demanded a 30-year imprisonment sentence, Judge Bolcanegra’s emotions helped Velasquez get away with a lesser sentence.

Larson wrote, “UFC champ Cain Velasquez was sentenced to 5 years in prison, with 1,283 days credit for time served. The judge was choked up and had tears in his eyes. He said keeping a son from his father was the worst punishment, and he gave Cain the lightest possible sentence.”

Of course, Velasquez received backing from almost the entire world. Even Dana White stood in support of his former 2-time heavyweight champion. He vouched for his character and claimed that “Mr. Velasquez would like nothing more than to return to his family and continue to make a positive impact on his community.” Nevertheless, the 42-year-old knew what he did. And he did not look forward to escaping the judgment. Let’s take a look at what Velasquez had to say about his deed.

Cain Velasquez takes complete responsibility for his actions

The heavyweight fighter recently appeared in his former teammate, Kyle Kingsbury’s podcast. Therein, the former champion publicly admitted that what he did back in 2022, was definitely not the right thing. He said, “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… I know what I did, and I know what I did was very dangerous to other people, you know? Not just people involved, but to innocent people. I understand what I did and I’m willing to do everything I have to 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.”

And as far as his feelings on Goularte are concerned, Velasquez seemed to have forgiven his son’s alleged attacker. He claimed that he held no ill will towards the Goularte family anymore. The heavyweight wished the Goulartes the best healing, as he acknowledged that they also had trauma of their own. However, the incident’s repercussions ensured that they could no longer practice daycare. Needless to say, the incident slashed both the prosecution and the defense with punishments of their own.