Cain Velasquez hasn’t fought in the UFC since 2019, but that didn’t stop Dana White from stepping up to help him when he needed it most.
Prior to receiving a five-year prison sentence following a no-contest plea pleading to a multitude of charges including premeditated attempted murder, Velasquez spent eight months in jail due to a judge continuously denied him bail. Velasquez was initially arrested back in February 2022 after he went on an 11-mile high speed chase pursuing a car containing Harry Goularte, a man accused of molesting the fighter’s son at a daycare owned by Goularte’s mother.
During the car chase, Velasquez fired several rounds from a .40-caliber handgun at the vehicle containing Goularte, but ultimately a bullet struck his stepfather Paul Bender in the arm. Bender sustained non-life threatening injuries as a result.
It wasn’t until November 2022 that Velasquez was finally granted bail set at $1 million by Judge Arthur Bocanegra and White immediately stepped up to help the retired fighter.
“I don’t know if he gave out a statement or something beforehand when I was locked up and also he did pay my bail as well,” Velasquez revealed on a recent episode of the Basement Talk podcast prior to his sentencing. “So they’re helping.”
White never publicly addressed paying Velasquez’s bail, although he continuously showed support to the former heavyweight champion with public statements and even wrote a letter on his behalf that was presented to the court when Velasquez was trying to get released from jail.
“I’m happy for him and his family to be finally back together,” White told TMZ just after Velasquez was released. “Cain Velasquez is a good man, he’s a good person, and I’m hoping the judge that looked at this case said, ‘You know what? This family has suffered enough.’
“As if the kids haven’t suffered enough, they lost their father for almost a year. Hopefully the real justice gets served in this case, and Cain Velasquez—who is a good man, a good father, a good husband—gets to be home with his family.”
Velasquez remained out of custody until his court hearing in March when Bocanegra sentenced him to five years in prison. Prosecutors were seeking 30 years to life behind bars.
Due to the months Velasquez spent in jail and on house arrest, he accumulated enough time served to be eligible for parole as early as March 2026.
While Velasquez is currently serving time in prison, he still has additional hearings related to his crime with the next date set on June 3 for a restitution hearing, which determines how much money the former UFC heavyweight is due to pay the victims in the case.
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