Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez faces charges of attempted murder and more for an alleged February 2020 shooting.
Former UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag] has a new sentencing date.
Initially scheduled for Friday in Santa Clara County (Calif.) court, Velasquez’s hearing was continued to a later date. Court records now reveal that date will be Jan. 24.
At the hearing, Velasquez will go before Judge Arthur Bolcanegra, who will determine what penalties he will receive, as he faces a handful of charges including attempted murder for a February 2022 shooting in the San Jose area.
Bolcanegra is the same judge who granted Velasquez bail after nearly nine months of incarceration and multiple denials by other judges.
Velasquez, 42, has been out on bail since November 2022. A full list of charges includes attempted murder (one count), shooting at a motor vehicle or aircraft (one count), assault with a firearm (three counts), assault with a deadly weapon (three counts), willfully discharging a firearm from a vehicle (one count) and carrying a loaded firearm with intent to commit a felony (one count).
Goularte faces a felony charge of lewd acts with a minor and has a trial setting and motion hearing scheduled for Nov. 13. There is also a coinciding civil lawsuit by the Velasquez family against Goularte, his family, and their businesses.
The latest on former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, who faces possible life in prison.
The sentencing for former UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag] has been delayed until 2025.
At a sentencing hearing Friday at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose, Calif., a court official announced the matter is continued until early next year. A new date was not announced.
No further details were revealed, though a public information officer told MMA Junkie that Friday’s hearing was solely the submission of a report written by Velasquez’s probation officer.
Velasquez, 42, has been out on bail since November 2022 as he faces charges of attempted murder (one count), shooting at a motor vehicle or aircraft (one count), assault with a firearm (three counts), assault with a deadly weapon (three counts), willfully discharging a firearm from a vehicle (one count) and carrying a loaded firearm with intent to commit a felony (one count).
Goularte faces a felony charge of lewd acts with a minor and has a trial setting and motion hearing scheduled for Nov. 13. There is also a coinciding civil lawsuit by the Velasquez family against Goularte, his family, and their businesses.
Cain Velasquez would have liked his chances vs. both Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall.
[autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag] would have liked his chances vs. both [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag].
Velasquez was widely regarded as the best heavyweight when he won the UFC title twice and tore through the majority of the top contenders. However, injuries helped put a close to Velasquez’s MMA career, and many wondered what might have been if he was able to remain healthy. He retired in late 2019.
Velasquez (14-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) was asked how a prime version of himself would have matched up against heavyweight champion Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC), and Velasquez admits even the best version of him wouldn’t have ran through someone like “Bones.”
“Jon Jones, prime Cain – OK, that would be a tough fight, man. Always, that would’ve been tough,” Velasquez said on the “Basement Talk” podcast. “You know, with that dude, he is (the boogeyman). But I think that would’ve been the best matchup because I think I would’ve had something for him. I could go there where he would’ve wanted to go.”
Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) is the interim heavyweight champion, and his lone octagon loss came in a 15-second TKO loss due to injury against Curtis Blaydes. He was able to avenge that loss in his most recent outing when he stopped Blaydes by first-round TKO to retain his interim title at UFC 304 in July.
Although Aspinall’s grappling is highly touted, Velasquez is confident he would have been able to get him to the ground.
“Aspinall, as well, especially with the wrestling, I just know when I get onto somebody’s legs I’m taking him down,” Velasquez said. “(He’s) very dangerous with his hands, has a lot of power. Wat he does, he kind of lunges forward and punches – takes a big step and lunges forward, closes that distance really well. But when somebody is wrestling, you’re going to be coming into my takedowns.”
Jones defends his title vs. former champion Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the UFC 309 main event Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.
A major turn in the case against Cain Velasquez came Friday when the former UFC heavyweight champion cut a deal.
A major turn in the case against [autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag] came Friday when the former UFC heavyweight champion cut a deal.
Velasquez’s trial in Santa Clara (Calif.) County court was set to begin next month, and the charges against him included attempted murder. But the East Bay Times reported Velasquez cut a deal Friday to plead no contest to the charges against him.
In exchange, Velasquez gets the potential for a lesser sentence from Judge Arthur Bocanegra. He also had the premeditation charges dropped from his one attempted murder count and nine separate gun charges – which could play an important role in his sentencing.
Velasquez will avoid going to a jury trial that would have included the possibility of a guilty verdict and life in prison. Absent a trial, Velasquez will be convicted of the charges against him, but the premeditation charges gone mean a mandatory life sentence is off the table. Judge Judge Bocanegra will have a wide range of options when he sentences Velasquez.
The next hearing for Velasquez’s sentencing, the Times reported, is set for Oct. 18.
Velasquez was facing charges of attempted murder (one count), shooting at a motor vehicle or aircraft (one count), assault with a firearm (three counts), assault with a deadly weapon (three counts), willfully discharging a firearm from a vehicle (one count) and carrying a loaded firearm with intent to commit a felony (one count). Velasquez pleaded not guilty to the charges.
If found guilty of attempted murder in a trial, he faced a minimum of 20 years and up to life in prison, according to the California penal code. Additional time could have been added for the other counts. With his settlement, the judge could sentence Velasquez to time served and probation all the way up to life in prison.
Goularte faces one count of lewd acts with a child and currently awaits a trial setting hearing of his own for criminal charges. A civil case against him is set to go forward in May 2025.
Harry Goularte, family and their businesses will go to trial next year for a civil case filed by former UFC champion Cain Velasquez.
With a criminal trial still pending, Harry Goularte, the man accused of molesting [autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag]’s son, has a civil trial date set for next year.
During a trial setting conference Tuesday, Santa Clara County (Calif.) presiding judge Shella Deen set a date for the civil trial for May 19, 2025. Counsels originally agreed upon March 31, 2025, for a trial date, but was not granted due to the court’s availability.
The civil case filed in April 2022 by Velasquez and family against Goularte, as well as his business, Certified Custom Concrete, his mother Patricia Goularte, and her business, Patty’s Childcare, and his stepfather Paul Bender, includes a number of allegations pertaining to sexual assault of a minor.
The case alleges Velasquez’s son, who has been identified as the victim by Velasquez’s attorney, was sexually abused by Goularte, who is accused of removing the child’s clothing, touching the child’s privates, and exposing himself to the child “numerous times” from 2021-22.
The complaint alleges Patricia Goularte, Bender, and Patty’s Childcare staff “allowed this behavior and conduct to occur and continue to occur and failed to adequately monitor and supervise [the victim] and Harry.”
Goularte is awaiting a trial date for his criminal case. A trial setting conference is currently scheduled for July 17. Goularte has pleaded not guilty to one felony count of lewd acts with a child after he was accused of inappropriately touching the then-4-year-old boy at a daycare center.
If found guilty, Goularte could face up to eight years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
Goularte was arrested by police in February 2022 after an investigation and interview with the child. Goularte was then released two days later on $50,000 bond with GSP monitoring. Velaquez was arrested three days later after allegedly shooting at a car with Goularte and his family members inside.
Velasquez was jailed for nearly nine months before being granted bail. His criminal trial is currently set to begin Sept. 9.
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For continuing coverage of the case, visit MMA Junkie’s hub for the Cain Velasquez trial.
Cain Velasquez looks back on the pivotal fights in his UFC career and much more with Burt Watson.
As the former UFC event coordinator, Burt Watson has seen it all. A beloved figure among fighters past and present, he can tell stories nobody else can. What can we say? He’s a legend.
That’s why he’s got this show, “Legend 2 Legend,” an MMA Junkie feature where Burt and another legend shoot the breeze and peel back the curtain – at least just a little bit.
In Episode 8, Burt sits down with former UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag] – still free after a an eight-month jail term while he awaits the legal process to play out on an attempted murder case stemming from a March 2022 incident – for a career-focused conversation as they discuss:
What motivated him to transition from collegiate wrestling to mixed martial arts.
His UFC 110 fight against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
His UFC 121 title fight against Brock Lesnar.
His legendary title-fight trilogy with Junior Dos Santos.
What it meant to be the first UFC champion of Mexican descent.
His foray into pro wrestling.
His relationship with Daniel Cormier.
And more.
You can watch the full episode in the video above.
Cain Velasquez was back in court as his trial was delayed yet again, due to subpoena issues from the UFC and others.
[autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag] still doesn’t have trial dates as he faces attempted murder and other charges, but that could change relatively soon.
After months of delays and continuances, Velasquez appeared for two hearings in Santa Clara County (Calif.) court Wednesday.
Ultimately, Velasquez will be due back in court March 6 and April 17 for proceedings surrounding subpoena motions. Additionally, he will have “one final” trial setting hearing April 24, at which point trial dates will be formally scheduled.
The first hearing Wednesday revolved around two subpoena motions by Velasquez and defense attorney, Renee Hessling.
The first subpoena, which was previously signed off on by judge Shella Deen, was submitted to the UFC in recent weeks.
According to Hessling, the UFC agreed to voluntarily submit all requested documents, but had yet to do so. Hessling indicated the UFC had been cooperative and it was just a matter of following through.
Judge Deen mandated the UFC submit the documents by March 1, with a follow-up hearing March 6.
The second subpoena, was to Community Care Licensing (CCL), the agency responsible for licensing child care centers in California, presumably to obtain documents from Patty’s Daycare LLC, the daycare where Velasquez’s four-year-old son was allegedly molested.
Present, and objecting to this subpoena, was attorney Stephen Defillipis, who represents Harry Goularte, the man accused of the “lewd acts” with Velasquez’s son. Velasquez allegedly then pursued and shot at Goularte in a high-speed chase. Goularte’s mother Patricia (who ran the daycare), and stepfather Paul Bender were in the vehicle with Bender allegedly shot by Velasquez, which resulted in injury.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Defillipis motioned to quash the subpoena request, but didn’t do so with enough lead time for Judge Deen to review it. Given that, and some dispute over whether Patricia Goularte or Bender were formerly served the subpoena motion, Judge Deen continued the CCL subpoena matters to April 17.
Cain Velasquez appears for his arraignment at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice on Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, in San Jose, Calif. Velasquez, the former UFC champion based out of San Jose, was charged with shooting at a man accused of molesting his child. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group via AP, Pool) ORG XMIT: CAJOS102
Velasquez and Hessling then appeared, along with district attorney representative Aaron French, before Judge Benjamin Williams in a trial setting hearing.
Despite French’s repeated relaying of a sense of urgency and distress from Patricia Goularte and Paul Bender to move Velasquez’s court proceedings along out of fear for their safety, Judge Williams overrode his objections to another continuance.
Judge Williams encouraged both parties to consider advanced case management in an effort to potentially come to a resolution, which both the defense and district attorney seemed open to.
Velasquez will now have “one final” trial setting hearing April 24.
Velasquez, 40, already pleaded not guilty to multiple charges including attempted murder after he allegedly chased and shot at a vehicle containing three people (Harry Goularte, Patricia Goularte, and Paul Bender) in February 2022. Velasquez spent over eight months in jail before he was granted bail with stipulations in November 2022.
Goularte awaits a trial setting of his own Feb. 28, but his defense has filed a 995 motion, a request to drop the charge. A hearing for the 995 motion is set for March 11.
Ex-UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will corner in the promotion for the first time since he was arrested on attempted murder charge.
Former heavyweight champion [autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag] will Saturday corner his first UFC fight since his 2022 arrest for attempted murder and other charges.
Velasquez will corner longtime friend and American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) student [autotag]Gabriel Benitez[/autotag] (23-10 MMA, 7-6 UFC), who fights Jim Miller (36-17 MMA, 25-16 UFC) on the UFC Fight Night 234 main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Velasquez was present Friday at the UFC Apex for the official weigh-ins and ceremonial faceoffs where he became a popular subject for fighters, coaches, and personnel to take photos with.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C2Ahy8VrIQZ/
In order to embark on fight week as a cornerman, Velasquez received special permission from the Santa Clara County (Calif.) court. Saturday’s bout marks the second time Velasquez has served as a cornerman for a high-profile bout, also having been in the corner for Usman Nurmagomedov a Bellator 300 in October.
Velasquez is currently on release after he posted $1 million bail. He has to partake in around-the-clock GPS surveillance and other stipulations. Velasquez recently received a warning for a surveillance violation, but was not handed any further punishment from the hearing judge – despite the district attorney and alleged victim’s in-person advocation for stricter discipline.
The next court date for Velasquez is Feb. 14, which will serve as both a subpoena and trial setting hearing. Velasquez is accused of pursuing and shooting a gun at a man, Harry Goularte, who allegedly molested his young son. Velasquez allegedly struck the man’s stepfather Paul Bender causing injury.
What better time than the end of the year for UFC and MMA notables to reflect on who they appreciated most in 2023.
‘”As real as it gets” is the UFC’s slogan to describe just how realistic MMA combat can be. But before fighters get to any of the face punching, they typically share a moment of respect, a moment of peace that represents their mutual acknowledgment for the struggle to arrive at the moment: the touch of gloves.
Fighters might beat each other up for as much as 25 minutes, but the respect for one another and the sport seldom goes away and the martial arts spirt is always with them.
In this year’s edition of “Touch of Gloves,” we see that spirt come to life as fighters, coaches and more show appreciation to the people they think especially deserve a shoutout for what they did in 2023:
[autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] on [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag]
[autotag]Ben Rothwell[/autotag] on [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag]
[autotag]Beneil Dariush[/autotag] on [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag]
[autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag] on [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag]
[autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag] on [autotag]Patchy Mix[/autotag]
“I tell you, nobody wanted those Cain Velasquez problems.”
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] thinks had it not been for injuries, [autotag]Cain Velasquez[/autotag] would be considered the best fighter.
Velasquez, a former UFC heavyweight champion, retired from MMA in late 2019. He was plagued with injuries from his shoulder, to his knee, and his back, which derailed some of his prime years.
A main training partner of Velasquez’s at American Kickboxing Academy, Cormier is confident his teammate could have beaten anyone had health kept up.
“I tell you, nobody wanted those Cain Velasquez problems,” Cormier told MMA Fighting. “If that dude was healthy and ready to go, I still believe he was the best fighter. Ask me, ask Khabib (Nurmagomedov), ask the guys that saw him in the gym when he was healthy and he was good. Nobody was like Cain.”
In his second reign, Velasquez defended his belt against Antonio Silva, and closed out his trilogy with Dos Santos by beating him a second straight time. But after the Dos Santos fight, Velasquez only competed four times over almost five-and-a-half years due to injuries.
“Think about his accolades, and he had to miss five, six years in the middle of his prime due to injury,” Cormier continued. “He was the best. I’m telling you right now, he’s one of those guys that everyone calls the best, this dude was the best. He was even better than me, for sure.”
For Cormier, Velasquez vs. Jon Jones is the fight that got away.
“That’s one we missed,” Cormier said, of Velasquez vs. Jones. “That would have been a good one.”
