Cain Velasquez sentencing set for next month after pleading no-contest to attempted murder

Cain Velasquez is set to be sentenced by a judge in California after pleading no-contest to a variety of charges including attempted murder.

The ex-UFC heavyweight champion is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 18 for his sentencing after his trial was originally set to begin on Monday. The 42-year-old avoided the trial now faces anything from probation to a life sentence as punishment, although the latter is highly unlikely given Velasquez’s plea deal with prosecutors.

In the original statement addressing Velasquez’s decision to plead no-contest, which basically means he’s accepting punishment in the case without actually admitting guilt, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office stated specifically that “he faces prison time.”

Assuming the sentencing moves ahead as scheduled without being reset for a later date, Velasquez will soon find out his fate after he was first arrested all the way back in February 2022. He was detained and charged following an 11-mile high speed car chase going after a vehicle that contained Harry Goularte, a man accused of molesting Velasquez’s son at a daycare owned by Goularte’s mother.

Velasquez fired several rounds from a .40-caliber handgun at the vehicle, which resulted in struck Goularte’s stepfather Paul Bender being struck in the arm. He sustained non-life threatening injuries as a result.

When the car chase ended, Velasquez was arrested without incident by the Morgan Hill Police Department and he was hit with a multitude of charges that kept him behind bars for the eight months before he was eventually granted bail.

Following Velasquez’s arrest, the district attorney stated that the former fighter’s search history on his phone revealed “searches for ‘sexual assault case where victims family fights back’” and “sexual assault cases where victims family retaliates.”

“This defendant decided to become judge, jury, and executioner,” Santa Clara County district attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “His actions endangered innocent bystanders, including young children and their parents who could have been injured or killed as he shot at his intended victim. We have excellent law enforcement in this county. Let them do their jobs.”

Since being released, Velasquez has returned to coaching at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., where he’s continued to work and even corner fighters competing in promotions like the UFC and Bellator.