Latest news with #CainVelasquez
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dana White sends money to fighter after cutting him from UFC
Dana White has built up a reputation for being hard on fighters that he doesn't like, but that may not be completely true. Over the years and throughout the evolution of the sport, the UFC CEO has visibly had his favorites and a select few that seem to irritate him. Those in his good books are often looked after, with 'Uncle Dana' taking care of them financially or otherwise should they find themselves in trouble. Advertisement Despite their differences, Dana White was quick to aid undefeated MMA prospect Muhammad Mokaev after the flyweight star was involved in a scary car crash. While he was thriving inside the octagon, Mokaev was cut from the UFC due to his behavior outside of the cage. 'The Punisher' revealed that, though he was removed from the UFC roster, White still offered him a helping hand during a difficult time. "When I had [a] car crash after being cut from UFC, I received some money from Dana too. [I'm] not sure what for, but it meant a lot to me." @mokaev_muhammad/Instagram Related: Muhammad Mokaev hospitalized by car crash Another man Dana White has helped out in recent times is former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. Following the Mexican's run-in with the law, new reports suggest that White covered Velasquez's bail with a $1 million payout. Advertisement "I don't know if he gave out a statement or something beforehand, when I was locked up," Velasquez said. "And also, he did pay my bail as well." "So, they're helping. They've helped." Cain Velasquez was sentenced for attempted murder against a man accused of molesting his son. The entire MMA community and beyond sided with Velasquez after news broke of his actions three years ago. Dana White played a huge role in the UFC Hall-of-Famer's release from jail without the public's knowledge, until now. Check out Cain Velasquez's comments on Dana White below.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Yahoo
Police presence at Bakersfield Christian HS after threat to campus deemed not credible
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A heavy police presence is at Bakersfield Christian High School clearing the campus after a non-credible threat was directed at the campus, officials said. Multiple Bakersfield police officers were at the school in southwest Bakersfield Tuesday morning. Officers blocked access to the campus as they searched the campus. Ex-MMA fighter Cain Velasquez currently held in Kern County prison Bakersfield Police Department Sgt. Eric Celedon said the department received a report of a possible threat to the campus. Officers were at the campus as a precaution. He said investigators do not believe there is a threat to the campus. No arrests have been made. Check back for updates. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rui Hachimura nails it from behind the arc
Cain Velasquez reaction, Raul Rosas Jr, Steve Erceg, David Taylor, Artem Vakhitov, more | The Ariel Helwani Show | March 25, 2025 Join Ariel Helwani and the Boys In The Back for the latest edition of The Ariel Helwani Show. Tuesday's lineup can be seen below: 1 p.m. ET: Ariel and the gang kick off the show with the latest news on Cain Velasquez. 1:30 p.m. ET: Raul Rosas Jr. previews his UFC Mexico City fight against Vince Morales. 2 p.m. ET: Steve Erceg stops by ahead of his UFC Mexico City headliner against Brandon Moreno. 2:30 p.m. ET: Former two-time GLORY Kickboxing champion and Contender Series alum Artem Vakhitov joins the program to break some news. 3 p.m. ET: Olympic champion and head coach of the Oklahoma State wrestling program David Taylor looks back at Wyatt Hendrickson's monster upset of Gable Steveson. 2:34:35 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cain Velasquez's path from UFC star to state prison is one of the most sympathetic imaginable
Just slightly over 12 years, 17 pro fights and six UFC title fights with two separate reigns as UFC heavyweight champion. That was the MMA career of Cain Velasquez. Then on Monday he was sentenced to five years in prison for a range of charges including attempted murder for his assault aimed at a man who'd been accused of molesting his son at a daycare. I can't help but think of a line from Cormac McCarthy's 'No Country For Old Men,' the one about how in life you might think you have some idea where the ride is headed but you might be wrong. No way Velasquez could have seen this coming for himself. Who could? There's probably a parallel universe out there in which we're sitting around right now talking about Velasquez as the greatest heavyweight champ in UFC history. And it's not one of those upside-down worlds where ice cream is health food and broccoli causes heart attacks. It's a world very close to our own but with a few minor tweaks. Maybe in that world Velasquez's knees didn't start to go bad on him right as he snatched the title in 2010. Maybe he didn't feel pressured to go into that first Junior dos Santos fight injured and get face-planted by a right hand in front of nearly 9 million people on network TV. Maybe he showed up in Mexico City a month or two early for that 2015 fight with Fabricio Werdum rather than getting there the week before and letting the elevation get to him. Velasquez only lost three fights in his entire career. That's it. Just three, and all of them to guys who would end up holding the UFC heavyweight title. His win over Brock Lesnar to claim the belt for the first time is still one of my all-time favorite pure butt-whoopings in UFC history, if only because it looked in-person exactly like the kind of David vs. Goliath matchup that martial arts was created to address. When Velasquez first showed up in the UFC he seemed like exactly the type of heavyweight we'd been waiting for. Here, at last, was an actual athlete. He could strike and he could wrestle. He was hard-nosed but also skilled. He fought at an extremely high pace, especially for that division, but he never seemed to get tired. He went 9-0 in the first half of his career, en route to his first meeting with the UFC title. Then he went 5-3 to close it out. After that, of course, came a brief stint as a pro wrestler. Then this, where he chased a man through traffic firing a .40 caliber pistol as he went, driven by a mad, though understandable rage. Of all the paths a retired MMA fighter might take to a prison sentence for attempted murder, Velasquez's is one of the most sympathetic imaginable. Even the judge who sentenced him on Monday noted that Velasquez was not a threat to public safety, calling his 'a tragic case.' Many of us can understand what motivated Velasquez to do what he did, while also understanding that you just can't go around shooting at people in heavy traffic and not expect to see the inside of a prison cell. The specifics of Velasquez's case were part of what made him sympathetic to the MMA community, but it was also the fact that he was so beloved. No one really ever had anything bad to say about him. And that's almost never true about anyone who's spent any amount of time in this sport. His sentencing certainly could have been much worse. At times after his initial arrest in 2022, it seemed that Velasquez might spent decades behind bars. Now, with credit for time served, he could conceivably be out a little over a year from now. Though, with everything his family has been through, you also can't say he's getting off easy. I remember after Velasquez lost that first fight to dos Santos in 2011. It was his first professional loss and it cost him the title he'd taken off Lesnar a year earlier. He'd been dealing with knee issues even then, but since he was the defending champ in the one and only fight the UFC scheduled for that first appearance on FOX following a landmark TV deal, he felt he couldn't pull out of the bout. About a minute into the fight he took a hard right hand behind the ear and that was that. A couple days later I was in the AKA gym on an unrelated assignment and Velasquez came walking in. I was surprised to see him so soon after the fight. He wasn't there to train. He was just hanging out, seeing his friends. As his head coach Javier Mendez told me, Velasquez spent so much of his life in the gym that, in moments like this, he didn't know where else to go. It was like he just got in the car and ended up there through sheer muscle memory. What I remember is how mostly unbothered he seemed just a couple days after losing his title. It wasn't that he didn't care so much as he wasn't dwelling on it. I tried, as gently as I could, to ask him why that was. Velasquez sort of shrugged and told me he wasn't worried. He was sure he'd get the belt back soon. He did, too. I remember being impressed by that certainty, especially in this uncertain sport. Here was a man who was so confident in his own abilities that he felt he knew what was coming. But then, a lot of us think at times that we know what's coming or what life has in store for us. And a lot of us end up being wrong.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
Former UFC champion Velasquez jailed for attempted murder
Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has received a five-year prison sentence for attempted murder. Velasquez, 42, pleaded no contest to attempted murder, felony assault and other related gun charges last August in California following a shooting he committed in 2022. The American shot at a vehicle carrying three people, including 46-year-old Harry Goularte, injuring another man in the truck in the arm and torso. Goularte was the intended victim and, according to the district office, is facing felony child molestation charges, which he has pleaded not guilty to. Defence attorney Renee Hessling called the ruling "bittersweet" as she had hoped to avoid a prison sentence for Velasquez. Velasquez has been on house arrest since November and received 1,283 days of time served, reducing his sentence. "Throughout it all, Cain has shown courage and strength of character," Hessling said in a statement. "He has taken responsibility for his actions and has been held accountable. The sentence handed down today reflects the complexities of the situation and acknowledges the man behind the headlines." In a recent interview on the Kyle Kingsbury Podcast, Velasquez accepted responsibility for his actions. "We cannot put the law in our own hands, I know what I did, and I know what I did was very dangerous to other people," he said. "Not just people involved, but innocent people. I understand what I did and I'm willing to do everything I have to [do] to pay that back." Velasquez injured Paul Bender in the shooting during an 11-mile car chase, where he fired multiple times from a handgun. Velasquez fought 15 times in the UFC, twice winning the heavyweight title with wins over Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos. The California native retired after a knockout defeat by Francis Ngannou in 2019, with a record of 14 wins and three losses. MMA schedule and results 2025 Watch every Born to Brawl episode Notifications, social media and more with BBC Sport
