MMA

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez spoke publicly for the first time since being released from jail on Tuesday.

Speaking to TMZ Sports after posting bail, Velasquez said he feels "blessed" to be able to "be with the loved ones—family, friends."

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office charged Velasquez with attempted premeditated murder and multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon related to a February shooting in San Jose, California.

ESPN's Marc Raimondi reported in March that Velasquez faces more than 20 years in jail if convicted on all 10 charges.

According to Raimondi, Velasquez is accused of attempting to kill Harry Goularte, who was charged with felony count of a lewd and lascivious act over allegations he molested a then-unnamed relative of Velasquez.

In June, Nathan Solis of the Los Angeles Times reported Velasquez filed a civil lawsuit against Goularte accusing him of molesting his four-year-old son at a childcare centre run by Goularte's mother.

Velasquez allegedly engaged in a high-speed chase with Goularte through San Jose when he rammed Goularte's truck and fired a 40-caliber handgun multiple times into the truck containing Goularte and two of his relatives, according to documents from the district attorney obtained by Raimondi.

Court documents said Paul Bender, Goularte's stepfather, was struck in his arm and torso by shots from Velasquez's gun.

Mark Geragos, Velasquez's attorney, told Raimondi on Aug. 5 his client pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Velasquez, who had been in jail since Feb. 28, was denied bail three times previously. While he has now been granted bail, the judge also ruled after a two-day preliminary hearing there is enough evidence to bring the case to a jury for trial.

A trial date has not yet been set.

Velasquez retired from mixed martial arts in October 2019. He went 14-3 in 17 career fights, including two stints as UFC heavyweight champion.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has been granted bail after spending over eight months in prison on attempted murder and 10 other gun-related charges related to a February shooting.

According to Marc Raimondi of ESPN, a judge in Santa Clara, California set bail at $1 million and ordered Velasquez to wear a GPS monitor and stay away from the shooting victims in the case.

Velasquez was arrested on Feb. 28 for allegedly attempting to shoot a former daycare employee, Harry Goularte, outside his home in San Martin, California. Goularte is accused of sexually assaulting Velasquez's four-year-old son.

In August, Velazquez pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In previous pre-trial proceedings, Velasquez had his bail denied each time. In March, it was reported that over 30 people wrote to a judge on Velasquez's behalf requesting that he be allowed to post bail. UFC president Dana White, Bellator MMA president Scott Coker and WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio were among those to advocate for the 40-year-old, but bail was not granted.

Per TMZ Sports, on Tuesday the judge cited "among other things, Velasquez's clean prior criminal history, and his status as a father" while ruling in favor of bail.

In June, Velasquez filed a civil lawsuit against Goularte on behalf of his son alleging that "on numerous occasions" from 2021 to 2022 Goularte "sexually abused, molested, touched and harassed" the child. Goularte's mother and stepfather, who owned the daycare where the alleged molestation took place, were also named as defendants in the lawsuit.

In September, a Santa Clara judge granted a continuance in the case to Nov. 14. The 43-year-old Goularte pleaded not guilty to one felony charge of lewd acts with a minor under the age of 14.

Oh, so you thought Islam Makhachev versus Alexander Volkanovski was a done deal? Think again. This is MMA, where nothing is ever cut-and-dried.

After Makhachev dominated the great Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 on Oct. 22 to capture the lightweight title, there was plenty of momentum for him to defend his belt against featherweight champ Volkanovski, who used to fight at lightweight (and welterweight) and was keen to move up a weight class to vie for the 155-pound title and a chance to become just the fifth fighter to simultaneously hold two UFC belts at the same time.

The two men went so far as to meet in the Octagon following Makhachev's victory. But since then, confusion has set in. Volkanovski suggested on Twitter that Makhachev wasn't quite as eager for the bout as he seemed to be while renewing a call for the fight to happen in his home country of Australia.

Are you a man of your word? @MAKHACHEVMMA? 🇦🇺 Let’s make it happen! ✍️ #UFC284

— Alex Volkanovski (@alexvolkanovski) November 4, 2022

Makhachev himself, while indicating he was looking for his next fight, also expressed confusion and a little frustration over the logistics surrounding the bout, opening the door to further uncertainty.

I’m not sure what UFC wants, February Australia or March Vegas, I honestly don’t care about location and opponent, I never choose opponents. Just send a contract and stop playing games

— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) November 5, 2022

Here's what we know for sure: Volkanovski is the UFC's current pound-for-pound kingpin and has earned a shot at double-champ status. Makhachev, after being unranked on that illustrious list prior to UFC 280, is now third, behind only Volkanovski and middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. These are two highly skilled and terrifying champs, one with surefire Hall of Fame credentials and one who looks to be well on his way.

But that doesn’t magically make Volk-Makhachev happen. So, what's realistic for the Dagestani's first title defense? Here are the three options.

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Alexander Volkanovski

OK, let's get this one out of the way. Even with fresh doubt surrounding the matchup, it's probably still the most likely scenario.

Reading between the lines, the key hang-up here appears to be location. Volkanovski’s home country of Australia was originally expected to be the landing spot, but Las Vegas now appears to be in the mix.

No matter where it happens, here's hoping they can get something done. Makhachev (5'10") would have a size advantage, making his stellar grappling game even harder to deal with.

But Volkanovski is an MMA computer and an absolute machine in the striking game, where he leads active featherweights in significant strike accuracy (56.6 percent) and striking differential (3.12) while sitting third in strikes landed per minute (6.97), per UFC stats. This is a guy who knows how to find your chin. He'll need that tool to tame the Makhachev attack.

Any of these fights would be compelling, but this one would be appointment viewing.

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Beneil Dariush

Perhaps hoping to boost his own case, Dariush recently told Bella Michaels of ABC affiliate KRGV (h/t Harvey Leonard of MMA News) that Volk-Makhachev may not be a done deal just yet—and perhaps not the best idea even if it is:

"I don’t know who I'm fighting. The UFC's talking about making Makhachev and Volkanovski happen, but that’s not for sure either. If you think about it, there's people [Volkanovski] can fight and there's people Islam can fight, and then they can build that fight up in the future, the lightweight champion and the featherweight champion. We'll see what happens. I'm not really sure."

The best way to help one's own cause, of course, is to take care of business on the field of competition and to do so in a way that will stick in the minds of fans and UFC brass. Mission accomplished on that front for Dariush, who hammered favored hot shot Mateusz Gamrot over three rounds for a unanimous-decision victory further down the UFC 280 main card. It was Dariush's eighth straight win, dating back to 2018.

Oliveira may have a case for a rematch, but it's not as strong as that of other fighters who have yet to face Makhachev. Why? Because he was just dominated by Makhachev. Usually instant rematches only happen following a controversial decision. Plus, with a division this deep, it's time to open the playing field a bit.

Dariush may not have massive name value, but he's been trying his level best to change that with his work inside of the cage. It may be ready to pay off in the form of a title shot. If not, a title eliminator between Dariush and Oliveira could help clear up the back end of the contender picture.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdIBWcQugJ4

Winner Between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler

These two will do battle on the UFC 281 main card going down at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12.

After this possibility and the others listed here, there's a steep drop-off among the other candidates in terms of likelihood. But if the UFC decides Volkanovski will stay at 145 pounds for now—or the pair can't get a deal done—or if the promotion believes that Dariush still lacks the star power needed to tentpole a pay-per-view, either of these men would be a ready-made challenge for Makhachev.

Add in the intrigue that comes from the fact that Poirier, maybe the most famous non-Conor McGregor lightweight in the world, was beaten pretty handily by retired lightweight GOAT and Makhachev friend and mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov back in 2019.

Poirier versus Chandler seems to contain some legitimate bad blood, which, knowing these two, will mean another master class in hand-to-hand violence. A Fight of the Night-level performance, which is entirely plausible, would springboard the winner into the thick of this discussion.

One fun aspect of this stems from the fact that Makhachev is relatively new to the elite levels of his division—arguably only since beating Oliveira. So he has yet to tangle with most of the killers that exist at lightweight, the UFC's deepest, most talent-rich weight class. That means all sorts of fresh matchmaking possibilities with top-tier guys like Poirier or Chandler.

These guys are in the third slot on the UFC 281 pay-per-view—pretty prime territory considering the main and co-main are both title fights. If they show out, that could change this equation in a heartbeat, especially if Volk-Makhachev continues to hit snags.

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke's first-round TKO victory over Darrick Minner is reportedly under investigation following suspicious betting patterns.

According to David Purdum and Marc Raimondi of ESPN, multiple sportsbooks in different states reported the suspicious activity. Some even took the fight off their boards in the hours leading up to the fight.

U.S. Integrity, which is a firm that monitors betting markets and works with sportsbooks, is investigating even though it does not have enforcement power. That means other authorities or betting regulators would be in charge of any type of official response.

Purdum and Raimondi explained Neurdanbieke's odds at a victory "moved dramatically" ahead of the fight with many gamblers betting on him to win in the first round.

It should be noted there were some rumors that Minner was injured, and his odds to win jumped from -220 to -420. Minner was showing obvious pain during the fight, and Neurdanbieke dropped him with a knee to the head.

The TKO occurred just one minute and seven seconds into the first round.

Someone familiar with Minner's camp said he was "absolutely injured," and the ESPN report explained opinion is split about whether leaks regarding the injury helped move the odds or if Minner potentially threw the fight.