Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading no contest in his attempted murder case. With credit for time served, Velasquez is expected to spend less than two more years in jail, finally concluding his lengthy legal battle. We will discuss Velasquez`s sentence and analyze the fallout from Sean Brady`s dominant win over Leon Edwards at UFC London.
“Hello Jed, this is Mike Heck. Considering your background in law, what is your reaction to the Cain Velasquez sentencing?”
For those who don`t know, I used to be a lawyer before moving to MMA. Although I`m no longer practicing law, my legal background informs my view: you can`t start a car chase and recklessly shoot at another vehicle and expect to avoid jail.
In 2022, Velasquez engaged in an 11-mile high-speed chase after Harry Goularte, accused of molesting Velasquez`s son at a daycare owned by Goularte`s mother. Velasquez fired several shots at Goularte`s car, but instead hit his stepfather, Paul Bender, in the arm. He was arrested shortly after without incident.
Since Velasquez`s arrest, there has been a lot of support for him, with many people saying he did nothing wrong. These people are wrong. 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 haven`t been convicted of anything yet. If we allow that, society will completely break down.
Some people will disagree, but even Velasquez`s strongest supporters should admit that – even if you think attacking Goularte was justified – Velasquez endangered more than just Goularte with his actions. This is shown by the fact that he shot someone else. Frankly, it`s a minor miracle that no one was seriously injured during an 11-mile car chase and reckless shooting.
When this started, I thought Velasquez was facing a 10-year sentence, maybe half that for good behavior. So, getting only five years, I think Velasquez should be happy with this result. Prosecutors were seeking a 30-year sentence. He got a small part of that. If Velasquez had been more unlucky that night, someone could have died, and instead of coming home next year, Velasquez would have spent his life in prison. Now, Velasquez has about one year left in prison, which isn`t enjoyable, but it`s a good outcome considering everything. And frankly, it feels like the right compromise in this situation.
Sean Brady going to take the belt from Belal Muhammad, right?
Umm, no? Let`s start here: Sean Brady`s performance on Saturday was spectacular. I thought Edwards would come in re-energized and make things very difficult for Brady – and I was completely wrong. Brady took control from the very beginning 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 attempted a takedown despite being outclassed 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 wasn`t competitive. This isn`t to say that Brady hasn`t improved, or that he has no chance, but that fight wasn`t long ago and “Remember the Name” dominated 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 anyone in the welterweight division, but his striking is still lacking and there are some guys 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 rematch I’m backing Muhammad to win again.
Thoughts on Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Sean Brady as a potential fight, or perhaps Leon Edwards moving up a weight class to fight Israel Adesanya?
I don`t 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 suggested this 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 is 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 the winner of Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena later this year, and Brady serves as the backup fighter. This is very easy.
(That being said, if they did fight, I’m picking Shavkat because again, Brady is a world-beater on top, but if he can’t get there, he is much less dangerous).
As for Leon Edwards going up to middleweight, I mean, sure. He’s not big enough to have sustained success in the weight class, but he can probably beat some people if he wants to do that. But booking him against Israel Adesanya is the worst idea I’ve ever heard. Twelve total strikes would be thrown in that fight over 25 minutes and everyone would go deaf from the noise of the boos. No thank you.
If Leon’s time at the top of the UFC is coming to an end, how does his legacy compare to Michael Bisping’s? Which of them is the greater British UFC fighter?
Also I would be curious on your thoughts on Leon vs Jorge Masvidal – is now the best time to finally make this happen?
To me, the question of Edwards vs. Bisping is a very easy answer but one I don’t know if people will agree with: Leon Edwards is greater than Michael Bisping, but not as important.
Bisping is the godfather of British MMA. Even if he had never won a UFC title, “The Count” would still have been a massively significant fighter in the history of the sport. But then he actually won a belt in one of the most unbelievable turns in MMA history. When people think of British MMA, Michael Bisping will always be the first name that comes to mind.
That being said, I think pretty obviously Edwards accomplished more than Bisping. A large part of Bisping’s career was losing against the best opponents he faced. It took him forever to get a title shot — despite the UFC really wanting to give him a title shot — because he couldn’t win the big fights. Leon, meanwhile, has universally been considered great but held back by being boring. He won all the big fights he was in, even if sometimes it was ugly.
More to the point, Leon beat an all-time great to take the welterweight title and then added two defenses. Bisping’s title win was legitimate, but then he defended against an old Dan Henderson (and almost lost) before losing to welterweight Georges St-Pierre, who hand-picked him for the fight. Pretty clearly Leon is the better, more accomplished fighter of the two, in my mind.
As for the Jorge Masvidal fight, yes. It’s time we made Leon Edwards vs. Jorge Masvidal happen. Edwards looked uninspired and terrible against Brady, and while most of that is probably because of Brady, a part of me thinks Edwards might not be fully focused anymore. Masvidal is an opponent who would certainly bring that out in him, and now that Leon is well outside of the title picture, we can have some fun.
Does Carlos Ulberg’s performance against Jan Blachowicz suggest that he’ll never be a champion? I just think at this stage of their career’s he needed a definitive decision or win. Then again LHW is weak so who knows.
In the co-main event on Saturday, Carlos Ulberg picked up a narrow decision win over former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. It was … bad. But here’s the thing: it’s not entirely Ulberg’s fault.
The truth is, Jan Blachowicz is a tough opponent to fight. Other than Glover Teixeira — who took him down and submitted him — who has looked good against Jan over the past five years? Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira, the two top light heavyweights in the world, both had split decisions with him, because it’s almost impossible to beat Blachowicz decisively. He’s so defensively sound and well-rounded that no matter who is fighting him, they’re not gonna look good.
That being said, Ulberg looked particularly bad. As much as I praised Blachowicz, he’s still 42 years old and was coming off a long layoff and shoulder injury, and I scored the fight for Jan. Ulberg was completely unwilling to open up his offense against Blachowicz and that sort of timidity does not bode well for his title aspirations. I’m not saying never but the history of MMA suggests that fighters who aren’t willing to take risks rarely win a title. They might hold on to a title they already won, but it’s rare to see them take the belt from someone.
Also, yeah, light heavyweight is terribly weak. You can’t count anyone out from winning the belt in that weight class, because anything can happen.
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