Former police officer and upcoming UFC Columbus headliner Chris Daukaus has shared his thoughts on the Cain Velasquez case.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was reportedly involved in a car chase in pursuit of alleged child molester Henry Goularte. While Velasquez allegedly fired rounds into the vehicle carrying Goularte, bullets hit Goularte's stepfather instead. Since the arrest, many fighters have voiced their support for Velasquez, such as Israel Adesanya, Colby Covington, and Alexander Volkanovski among others.
One man who is in a position to offer some unique insight into the case is Chris Daukaus. Daukaus worked as a law-enforcement officer in Philadelphia for more than 10 years, so he has a firm awareness of the criminal justice system.
But the #9-ranked UFC heavyweight is also a parent. So while he understands the need to charge Velasquez for breaking the law, he is not personally convicting Velasquez from a morality standpoint.
“Yeah, so as a father and as a fighter, I’m OK with what he did," Daukaus began in an interview with Sherdog. "Yes, it sucks that he shot the wrong person. I understand where he’s coming from. I understand the emotions that he must have felt and I couldn’t imagine what was going through his head, and I couldn’t imagine being in that situation.
“As a former law enforcement officer, as a former police officer, dealing with the circumstances of the case and the facts of the case, I knew he was gonna be locked up. And he’s going to be charged, and it’s just (about) what he gets charged with during the trial. It’s a really bad situation, I think. But we’ll see how it plays out as far as the timeline goes.”
Velasquez was charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, assault with a firearm, shooting at a motor vehicle, and discharging a firearm from a vehicle with intent. His bail was denied earlier this month, and he remains in Santa Clara County Main Jail until his trial.
Once the trial begins, Daukaus believes there will be many factors that ultimately determine Velasquez's fate.
“So if it was a quote-unquote ‘crime of passion’ with his emotions and if he just reacted, that plays a factor as opposed to him planning a revenge factor against this person. That also plays a factor in it. But as a father and as a father of a young son and a soon-to-be daughter, I can respect what he did; I understand what he did. But as a former law enforcement officer, like I said, he broke the law; he needs to be locked up."
Daukaus went on to opine that this entire ordeal is a textbook example of faith lost in the criminal justice system.
“But I guess that goes to show the type of faith or lack of faith that an individual has in the criminal justice system here in America, which you can tell from not only this story but other stories, it seems to be broken at this point in time," Daukaus said. "I really wish that it was fixed. But there seems to be something really wrong if the guy who did that to Cain Velasquez is now free to go out in society and back to his normal life after what he’s done, allegedly, to someone or other people.”
Chris Daukaus is scheduled to face Curtis Blaydes in the main event of UFC Columbus this Saturday. Cain Velasquez is due to reappear in court on April 12.
What do you make of Chris Daukaus' thoughts on the Cain Velasquez case?