Ex-UFC champ Cain Velasquez pleads no contest to attempted murder

FILE – Cain Velasquez, right, appears for his arraignment with his attorney Edward Sousa at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice, Nov. 21, 2022, in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group via AP, Pool, File)

SAN FRANCISCO—Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez has pleaded no contest to attempted murder after he shot at a man in 2022 accused of molesting Velasquez’s relative, a Northern California district attorney’s office said.

The office of Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement that Velasquez entered his plea in a San Jose courtroom Friday to felony assault and other gun charges as part of a negotiated agreement with the prosecutor’s office.

The 42-year-old Velasquez was scheduled to go on trial next month. Velasquez, who retired from the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2019, still faces prison time, said Rosen’s office. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.

READ: Cain Velasquez reclaims UFC heavyweight title

The man charged with molesting the male relative, who was 4 at the time, is the adult son of the woman who ran the daycare attended by the boy.

Prosecutors say that in a high-speed chase in February 2022, Velasquez fired a handgun multiple times at a truck carrying the alleged molester and two others. He shot and wounded the stepfather of the accused molester instead.

The shooting took place near an elementary school, endangering “young children and their parents who could have been injured or killed as he shot at his intended victim,” said Rosen. “We have excellent law enforcement in this county. Let them do their jobs.”

Velasquez and his attorney Renee Hessling declined comment after Friday’s court hearing, the Bay Area News Group reported. Velasquez is out on bail.