Overview
- Velásquez left Soledad State Prison after his agent, Mike Fonseca, confirmed the conditional release to ESPN, with videos showing a family reunion accompanied by a mariachi group.
- The former UFC heavyweight champion was sentenced on March 25, 2025, to five years after pleading no contest to charges including attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses.
- Outlets report he spent about 10 to 11 months in state custody, with credited pretrial detention and electronic monitoring counting toward the sentence.
- The case stems from a February 2022 pursuit in which Velásquez fired at a vehicle carrying Harry Goularte, accused of abusing Velásquez’s child, wounding Goularte’s stepfather Paul Bender with nonfatal injuries.
- Goularte remains free on bail after pleading not guilty to lewd acts against a minor and still awaits trial, while Velásquez has filed a civil complaint against him.