Cain Velasquez Legal Battle & Sean Brady’s Next Steps

Cain Velasquez is going to jail.

On Monday, the former UFC heavyweight champion was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading No Contest in his attempted murder case. Velasquez gets credit for time served, meaning he will likely spend less than two years back behind bars as his long legal battle is finally over. So, let’s talk about Cain’s sentence, plus the fallout from this past weekend’s UFC London card where Sean Brady dominated Leon Edwards.

Cain Velasquez

“Hi Jed, my name is Mike Heck. My questions is, as someone who dabble in the law field, what was your reaction to the Cain Velasquez sentencing?”

For those who don’t know, once upon a time I was a lawyer before leaving that field to come to the wonderful world of MMA. Though I am no longer barred (as I don’t practice, keeping up my bar card would be a bit silly) I still have my juris doctor and so it’s with that legal knowledge I can say this with some confidence: you can’t start a car chase and shoot recklessly into another vehicle and expect to stay out of jail.

For those unaware, in 2022 Velasquez went on an 11-mile high-speed chase pursuing a car containing Harry Goularte, a man accused of molesting the fighter’s son at a daycare owned by Goularte’s mother. Velasquez then fired several rounds from a .40-caliber handgun at the vehicle containing Goularte but instead shot his stepfather Paul Bender in the arm. He was arrested shortly after without incident.

Since Velasquez was first arrested, there has been a surge of support for the former heavyweight champion, with no shortage of people declaring he did nothing wrong. Those people are incorrect. What happened to Velasquez’s son is a terrible tragedy, but Velasquez is not judge, jury, and executioner. You can’t just kill people, or try to, especially when they aren’t convicted of anything yet. If we allow that, then society has broken down completely.

Some people are not going to agree with that, but what even the most ardent Velasquez supporters should be able to admit—even if you think Velasquez is justified in attacking Goularte—is that Velasquez endangered far more than just Goularte with his actions. That’s evidenced by the fact that he shot someone else. Frankly, it’s a minor miracle that no one got grievously injured between an 11-mile car chase and reckless gunfire.

When this all first kicked off, I thought Velasquez was looking at a 10-year bid, with maybe half that for good behavior. So to walk away from this thing with only five years, I think Velasquez should be happy with this outcome. Prosecutors in the case were looking for a 30-year sentence. He got a small chunk of that. And had Velasquez been more unlucky that night, someone might have died and instead of coming home next year, Velasquez would have spent the rest of his life behind bars. Now, Velasquez has about one year left in prison, which is certainly not a joy, but it’s solid all things considered. And, frankly, feels like the right compromise in this situation.

Sean Brady

Sean Brady takes the belt from Belal Muhammad, amiright?

Umm, no?

Let’s start here: Sean Brady’s performance on Saturday was spectacular. I was of the opinion that Edwards was going to come in looking re-energized and make things very hard on Brady — and I couldn’t have been more wrong. Brady seized the initiative right from the opening bell and never let up. Moreover, he didn’t just beat Edwards; he broke him.

By the third round, “Rocky” didn’t want to be there anymore. That’s why Edwards even shot a takedown attempt despite getting out-classed on the ground because he was mentally defeated. He was simply going through the motions until Brady found a way to finish him. It’s harsh but it’s what I saw on Saturday and that’s full credit to Brady for making that happen.

But do I think Brady beats Belal Muhammad? No because I saw them fight before and it was not competitive. This isn’t to say that Brady hasn’t gotten better or that he has no chance but that fight wasn’t that long ago and “Remember the Name” dog-walked Brady. And it’s not like Belal has looked bad since then. He’s the guy who wrote the blueprint for beating Edwards that Brady followed.

If Brady can consistently get takedowns he’s a threat to anybody in the welterweight division but his striking is still lacking and there are some dudes at 170 that are really hard to take down. I think Belal is a bad style matchup for Brady so unless something dramatic changes if they ever do rematch I’m backing Muhammad to get it done again.

Well what should we do with Sean Brady then?

Thoughts on Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Sean Brady as a potential fight or perhaps Leon Edwards going up a weight class to fight Israel Adesanya?

I do not mean to be rude but both of those are terrible ideas.

Let’s focus on the Brady vs Shavkat fight for the most part because several people threw this out as something that should happen. My counterpoint: Why?

Rakhmonov had a title fight. It was booked he was ready for it and then the champion got injured and withdrew. Instead of waiting a few months for Belal to get better Rakhmonov did the UFC a solid and stayed on UFC 310 accepting a short-notice change of opponent and won. Why would anyone think he should fight again before getting his well-deserved title shot?

And the same holds true for Brady. Why should he fight again? He just beat the former champion and No 1-ranked guy in the weight class Sean Brady has done enough We don’t need to thin the herd of contenders Rakhmonov faces winner of Muhammad vs Jack Della Maddalena later this year and Brady serves as backup fighter This is very easy.

(That being said if they did fight I’m picking Shavkat because again Brady is world-beater on top but if can’t get there much less dangerous).

As for Leon Edwards going up middleweight mean sure He’s not big enough have sustained success weight class but can probably beat some people if wants do that But booking him against Israel Adesanya worst idea I’ve ever heard Twelve total strikes would be thrown fight over 25 minutes everyone go deaf decibel level boos No thank you.

Leon Edwards

If Leon’s stay top UFC coming end how does legacy compare Michael Bisping’s Which them greater British UFC fighter?

Also would curious thoughts Leon vs Jorge Masvidal – now best time finally make happen?

To me question Edwards vs Bisping very easy answer one don’t know if people will agree with Leon Edwards greater than Michael Bisping but not important.

Bisping godfather British MMA Even if never won UFC title “The Count” still have been massively significant fighter history sport But then messed around did win belt one most Disney movie turns MMA history When people think British MMA Michael Bisping always first name comes mind.

That being said think pretty obviously Edwards accomplished more than Bisping vast majority Bisping career losing against best opposition faced It took forever get title shot despite UFC desperately wanting get title shot because couldn’t win big fights Leon meanwhile universally considered great held back being boring He won all big fights even sometimes ugly.

More point Leon beat all-time great take welterweight title then added two defenses Bisping title win legitimate then defended against husk Dan Henderson nearly lost before losing career welterweight Georges St-Pierre hand-picked him fight Pretty clearly Leon better more accomplished fighter two mind.

As Jorge Masvidal all yes It’s time pulled trigger Leon Edwards vs Jorge Masvidal Edwards looked listless terrible against Brady while most probably because Brady part thinks Edwards might not locked anymore Masvidal opponent certainly bring out now Leon well outside title picture can have fun.

Carlos Ulberg