Cain Velasquez released from prison: Former UFC heavyweight champion out on parole
Cain Velasquez is no longer behind bars. The former UFC heavyweight champion was released on parole after spending almost all of last year in California state prison.
Velasquez was released Sunday after pleading no contest in March 2025 to charges related to an incident in which Velasquez participated in a car chase and fired at a vehicle. containing Harry Goularte in February 2022. Goularte had been accused of molesting Velasquez’s young son. The shot instead hit Goularte’s father, who was also in the vehicle.
In November 2022, Velasquez was placed under house arrest and got $1 million bail. After his no contest plea in 2025, Velasquez was credited with 1,283 days served on his five-year prison sentence.
Velasquez has since filed a civil complaint against Goularte, who still faces a felony charge for lewd acts with a minor.
Velasquez won the UFC heavyweight championship in his ninth professional fight, stopping Brock Lesnar in the first round of their October 2010 fight. At the time, Velasquez was considered a new breed of heavyweight, mixing strong wrestling experience with solid, seemingly non-stop cardio.
In November 2011, Velasquez headlined the UFC on Fox debut, defending his title against Junior dos Santos, only for dos Santos to win the fight by knockout in just 64 seconds.
Velasquez would win the title in a rematch against dos Santos in December 2012 and defend it twice (including stopping dos Santos in their rubber match), before dropping the belt again. The title loss occurred in June 2015 when Velasquez tired uncharacteristically and was submitted by Fabricio Werdum.
Velasquez would fight only two more times, defeating Travis Browne before suffering a 26-second knockout loss to Francis Ngannou.
