Donald Trump has been asked to pardon Cain Velasquez after the former UFC fighter was sentenced to five years in prison over the attempted murder of a man accused of sexually assaulting his four-year-old son.
Velazquez pleaded no contest to charges of felony attempted murder and assault, as well as weapons charges.
The ex-UFC heavyweight champion, 42, chased and shot at Harry Goularte, who is charged with molesting the fighter’s son. Velasquez missed Goularte but struck his stepfather with a bullet.
Velasquez was sentenced in California on Monday. He had been on house arrest since November 2022.
Now his fellow former MMA star, Luke Rockhold, has pleaded for help from Trump, who is a regular at UFC events.
Rockhold insists Velasquez is a ‘big teddy bear’ and suggested his actions were ‘somewhat justified’. The retired fighter also claimed this case shows ‘everything that is wrong with society’.
Ex-UFC champion Cain Velasquez was sentenced to five years in prison for attempted murder
Velasquez was arrested after firing a gun at a man who allegedly molested his son
‘If there is ever a time for President Trump to step in and serve a real pardon that makes all the sense in the world,’ Rockhold told TMZ.
‘Cain is one of the kindest, sweetest (people),’ he continued. ‘Until you punch Cain in the face, until you wrong him… he will never do anything wrong.
‘He has changed so much as a person over the years. He’s just a big teddy bear, what can I say? He’s the nicest guy ever.’
Retired UFC fighter Luke Rockhold has called on Trump to ‘step in and serve a real pardon’
Rockhold added: ‘He’s done countless things – I’ve gone with him to children’s hospitals to visit kids and to see the joy he brings people, he’s the least amount of threat to anybody in this world.’
Instead, Rockhold claimed, the ‘real’ threat is Goularte, who faces one felony charge of lewd acts with a minor and is set for trial on June 2nd.
‘A lot of people are saying they’re glad he didn’t do 20, 30 years – I think that really just comes down to the fact that the whole system is wrong,’ he continued.
‘He’s done his time, he’s proved he’s not a threat to society… everything is just so sick.’
