Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was released from prison on Sunday after spending 10 months behind bars on charges that included attempted murder.

The 43-year-old Velasquez had been sentenced to 5 years in prison last year after he pleaded no-contest to the attempted murder of Harry Goularte, who had been accused of molesting his young son at a daycare center.

Velasquez had been involved in a high-speed pursuit of Goularte back in 2022 that had culminated in him shooting at his car, with one of the bullets striking Goularte’s step-father.

There was widespread sympathy and support for Velasquez after the incident due to the circumstances that led to the shooting, but taking the law into his own hands and had endangered innocent people’s lives meant that he was unable to avoid being punished for his actions.

However, the sentence he was handed was relatively lenient under the circumstances, and as expected he’s now been able to get early parole.

Velasquez is a two-time UFC heavyweight champion who at his peak was considered one of the best ever fighters in the division, beating the likes of Brock Lesnar, Junor dos Santos (x2), Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Antonio Silva (x2) and Travis Browne during his time in the UFC.

However, major injuries held Velasquez back in the prime years of his career and after several lengthy absences from the Octagon that eventually forced him to retire prematurely in 2019.