Ex-UFC champion Cain Velasquez parole eligibility date changed

Story by

Damon Martin

Wed, December 17, 2025 at 6:00 PM UTC

1 min read

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez could be home sooner than expected after his parole date was recently changed.

Velasquez is currently serving time in prison after pleading no-contest for attempted murder following a February 2022 incident in which he went on a high-speed car chase firing several rounds from a handgun at a car containing a man named Harry Goularte, who is accused of sexually molesting the fighter’s son at a daycare owned by Goularte’s mother. Multiple rounds were fired at the vehicle, but Goularte’s stepfather Paul Bender was the only one struck by a bullet. Bender sustained non-life threatening injuries.

Velasquez pled no-contest in October 2024 and was sentenced to five years in prison. The now 43-year-old retired fighter was granted time served after spending several months in jail before bail and then additional time on house arrest following his release.

According to the California Incarcerated Records database, Velasquez is now eligible for parole as of February 2026. After he was first admitted, Velasquez’s parole date was listed as March 2026 but prisoners can accrue time off a sentence for participating in rehabilitative programs.

Velasquez is serving his sentence at the Correctional Training Facility, also known as Soledad State Prison in Soledad, Calif.

While Velasquez is eligible for parole as of February, it doesn’t mean he is automatically released, only that it is now the earliest date he can potentially be released.

Prisoners can also have additional time added to a sentence for violating rules while behind bars.

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