SAN JOSE, Calif. – When Kyle Crutchmer steps in the cage Friday at Bellator 277, less than two miles away his teammate Cain Velasquez will spend his 46th day behind bars.
Since he moved to San Jose to train at American Kickboxing Academy, Crutchmer looked up to Velasquez – a leader in the gym. They’d chat about fighting, sure, but life as well. Seeing Velasquez behind bars has both triggered some emotions and struck a nerve for the welterweight fighter.
“When I first heard it, it was really crazy,” Crutchmer told reporters including MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “I literally talked to him two days before. He comes to the gym every day and helps us. I have a daughter and obviously, he has a son and a daughter. Afterward, we were talking about our favorite Disney movies we like to watch. So to see all this happening to someone like that, man. It just shows you how backward a lot of this legal sh*t is.”
If Crutchmer was in the same position, he might’ve done the same thing, he admits. The California legal system released Harry Goularte on $50,000 bail after his arrest – something Crutchmer sees as hypocritical and wrong.
“As a father now, I didn’t realize when I was growing up how much it actually means to be a parent. I think your biggest job now, even now, to what I do is, is to protect my kids and to protect my daughter. I couldn’t tell you if I wouldn’t have done the same thing that he did if I found out something like that. I think they need to look at this a little bit and realize who is in the wrong here.
“I think the state of California could have done a little better by at least letting Cain’s family know what their process is to give them some clarity. Just to release a sexual predator or a child molester, whatever you want to call them, back out into the world just doesn’t make sense to me. I’m from Oklahoma, man. If you did something like that there, I don’t think that guy ends up any different.”
Bellator 277 takes place Friday at SAP Center with the main card airing on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie. Crutchmer (8-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) takes on Michael Lombardo (12-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) on the prelims.
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