It’s been over two weeks since fans saw Jon Jones dancing his way to the ring for the IBA Bare Knuckle event in Miami. Awaiting him inside the ring was heavyweight legend Cain Velasquez. The sight of the two UFC icons embracing resonated with fans.

Yet, behind those cheers and smiles was a story of sorrow and hardship. It centered around Velasquez. After serving approximately eleven months in prison for the 2022 shooting case, the former two-time UFC heavyweight champion was released on parole in February. The period, along with the eight months he spent in jail following his 2022 arrest, which counted toward his five-year sentence, left a lasting impression on Velasquez, who reportedly remains under supervision. In the short documentary film “The Resurrection of Cain Velasquez,” the former champion reflected on those moments, particularly the time he lost with his children.

“There were some very hard times, you know,” Velasquez said in the movie, now available on YouTube. “I just came from being free and being able to do whatever I wanted to, and then all of a sudden, like, okay, now you got to do this.

“Sometimes there were moments where I felt like I was going to freak out, but you can’t do that. Sometimes I’d just scream for a while, just let it all out and not care what anybody else thought. Just let it out, you know. I got to make a lot of friends in there where they knew that I needed just to do that for a minute, like lose my mind for a minute, you know. Go into that to where at the end of it I was just like, just drained and relaxed and you know like, I let it out. I didn’t hold it, and I was like, ‘F–k it.'”

The frustration Velasquez described centered around his two separate incarcerations. The first came in March 2022, when he booked into the Santa Clara County jail. He was later released in November after posting a $1 million bail.

Yet Velasquez was not entirely free. He remained on house arrest with electronic monitoring while awaiting resolution of the case, in which he allegedly shot at a person accused of harming his child but struck another individual instead.

The second incarceration came last year, when Velasquez served approximately eleven months following his March 2025 sentencing before being granted parole on February 15 this year.

At sentencing, the court credited the former heavyweight champion with 1,283 days of time served out of his original five-year sentence. That total included his time in the Santa Clara County jail, the period he spent under house arrest, and credit for his good behavior.

Those credits substantially reduced the amount of time he needed to serve in state prison.

Yet, the credits could not erase the memories of what Velasquez lost, the most precious of which was the time he could not spend with his children.

The lost years that changed Cain Velasquez

“Like things that I was dreaming about in prison, like going to my kids sports, sporting events, going to the practices, like being in that moment and just sitting there and like thinking back to that like, wow, this is what I dreamed of right here was to watch them do this. Like I’m living, I’m living my dream,” Velasquez added.

To set the record straight, the UFC legend has spoken on a few occasions about the emotional journey he endured throughout his ordeal.

What is important now is that the former champion is putting his past behind him and opening a new chapter in his life, one in which he is able to teach, guide, mentor, and also speak about wellness.

The former UFC champion is back home with his family. He has also reportedly returned to the American Kickboxing Academy.

Speaking with NBC’s Raj Mathai in his first television interview since his release, Velasquez said, “In the last four years of getting things taken away… I’ve always stayed really just true to myself and how I want to continue with life and that’s living from a place of love and giving back.”

To that end, he acknowledged the mistakes he made and said he now wants to move forward.

In his own words, what matters to Cain Velasquez now is that he learned to forgive himself. More importantly, he hopes that people hear his story, learn from his experiences, and avoid making the same mistakes that altered the course of his life.