Former UFC champ Cain Velasquez arrested for attempted murder after man allegedly abused a family member

Published March 3, 2022 11:10am

UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, left, delivers a kick to Junior Dos Santos in a fight for the UFC World Heavyweight title at the Toyota Center in Houston, Saturday (Sunday, PHL time). Velasquez won in the fifth round via TKO, to defend his title. Pat Sullivan / AP Photo

Former UFC heavyweight world champion Cain Velasquez could face serious jail time after he was arrested and held without bail for attempted murder.

The 39-year-old Velasquez, who holds an MMA record of 14-3, reportedly shot a man at least once last Monday in San Jose, California. The victim was eventually rushed to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The motive for Velasquez’s shooting remains unclear, but an NBC report recently surfaced citing the fighter hunted down a person by the name of Harry Eugene Goularte for allegedly abusing a family member that may have happened a hundred times at a home daycare run by his mother.

Goularte was arraigned last week for lewd and lascivious acts towards a child under the age of 14 but was released despite objections from the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office. The Velasquez shooting incident occurred three days later.

MORE:
Court documents show the alleged abuse of @cainmma’s family member may have happened “100 times”.

More at 5 on @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/NV66e2ms5I
— Damian Trujillo (@newsdamian) March 2, 2022

Velasquez reportedly opened fire on a car with Goularte in it after a high-speed car chase but instead hit the alleged abuser’s stepfather. Velasquez was formally charged with attempted premeditated murder and multiple gun assault charges earlier today according to ESPN.

Velasquez, who last fought in 2019 against the current UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, could serve more than 20 years of incarceration if convicted. — LA, GMA News

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