The Bottom Line: An American Tragedy

If you follow MMA (or any combat sport for that matter) for an extended period of time, you’re going to come across some sad stories. Fighting takes a toll on the body and the mind. While there are plenty of stories of fighters who make good livings and help out their communities, there are also fighters who gave us memorable moments in competition but who suffered afterwards in ways that are hard not to link to their experience as a fighter.

The mellowest form of this story is often the fighter who doesn’t save their money and is left getting beat up for small paydays as they get older. This can happen in all sports but is more of a problem in MMA both because MMA pay still trails that of other major sports and because playing basketball or hockey when past one’s prime is far less risky than getting into fights when one’s ability to do so is severely diminished. It’s dangerous and sad to watch fighters who were once among the best in their weight class taking low five figure paydays to get knocked out on local shows.

Darker still is watching the fighters who show the effects of significant cognitive decline even in their 40s and 50s. Gary Goodridge was a fan favorite and a gentle giant, making it all the more painful to see him suffer in his post-MMA and kickboxing life. There are also fighters who have hurt themselves and others with violent outbursts; research increasingly suggests head trauma is connected to aggression and self-harm.

Cain Velasquez was not supposed to be one of these stories. Velasquez was doing well. He reached the top level of the sport and made a lot of money in the process. He’s had great opportunities since then, parlaying his popularity into lucrative pro wrestling cameos with WWE and Mexico’s AAA wrestling promotion. In one of his most recent interviews with Ariel Helwani in October, Velasquez seemed in good spirits, thoughtful and happy to embark on the next stage of his life.

Covering Velasquez’s career from the beginning and having interviewed him a number of times over the years, I always have liked the man. He is honest, soft spoken and treats people with respect. That’s why he in turn commanded respect and admiration from his peers. It’s not accidental that while he was a great wrestler and very good striker, Velasquez’s superpower was his cardio. Excellent cardio is a manifestation of hard work and Velasquez knew all about that.

Velasquez should have years of happy times ahead of him but tragically that’s now very much in question, after he chased down the alleged molester of a family member and fired shots into that man’s car, hitting another individual. That Velasquez reacted that way speaks to the psychic toll of finding out what had happened. Child molestation is likely the single crime that humans judge most harshly, because of the way it destroys the innocence of childhood and can permanently affect the trajectory of lives as they’re only just getting started. Velasquez’s rage is as understandable as anger gets. It’s also likely to cost him for a long time to come.

For all the calls of #freecain and the understandable frustration that a good man faces a long sentence for ostensibly defending his family, there are good reasons no society with a properly functioning criminal justice system sanctions vigilantism. It’s the criminal justice system’s job to arrest and try individuals for crime and it’s the accused’s right to a defense before they are punished for their wrongdoing. People are falsely accused of crimes all the time and the state needs to prove they are guilty before they are punished. To do anything else is to invite injustice on a large scale. The most widespread historical example of American vigilantism is the lynching of African-Americans, the darkest of precedents imaginable. Vigilantism also endangers the public, as we saw here given the person shot was not the alleged molester.

Given those realities, the district attorney has not been lenient on Velasquez nor was the judge in denying bail. Velasquez and his defense team face some tough decisions ahead. Their best chance may be appealing to the sympathies of a jury and hoping that they care more about the circumstances of the story than the facts of the case. The danger is if they try that and fail, Velasquez could face a significantly tougher punishment than if he takes a plea deal now.

The tragic irony of the whole situation is Velasquez’s love of family drove him to make a decision that could keep him away from his family for years to come. It’s an unspeakably sad reality that supporters of Velasquez are only starting to come to grips with. The consequences of the actions of the alleged perpetrator and Velasquez’s reaction to it are likely to linger for many years to come.