In a startling turn of events in February 2022, former UFC star Cain Velasquez found himself in the midst of a legal havoc.
The charges against him included attempted murder, among a host of others. Velasquez allegedly discharged his firearm multiple times at a car in traffic, ultimately hitting one occupant. This incident made the MMA community surprised, given Velasquez’s image as a devoted family man and a kind-hearted individual.
Just days later, it was disclosed that Velasquez’s target was none other than Harry Goularte Jr. This man accused of abusing one of the former champion’s children.
While Velasquez did not manage to hit Goularte Jr., he did hit the man’s father who was also in the vehicle. Despite public opinion leaning towards leniency for Velasquez, the judge took a different stance.
Cain Velasquez waited for his trial in a prison cell for eight months. Last November, he was ultimately granted bail and has since been silent.
In a recent interview on Rampage Jackson’s podcast, he finally shed some light on the challenges he faced during this tumultuous period. He conceded that there weren’t too many, yet the experience of undeniably left an indelible mark.
Velasquez started: “I’ve never been alone in a long time really. I really just needed to be alone and take care [of ] whatever… I took the opportunity to build myself in that time. It was good and bad, but mainly good. Like, I believe a lot of people should experience something like that. [To] have their freedoms taken away to appreciate what you have.”
He went on to say: “It’s the smallest of things that we take for granted. We’re so blessed every day, and we’re so down on the dumbest things. When s*it gets taken away you realize ‘Oh, I had all this. I had this opportunity to leave whenever I wanted to, to get in my car and go outside’. To look at nature, to have the opportunity to go look at something like that.”