Cain
Velasquez has reflected on how life has changed since his
release from prison.

The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship champion was incarcerated after
targeting an individual he accused of molesting one of his young
relatives. He was released earlier this year, but has stayed away
from the limelight. Velasquez has now opened up about his time in
prison and the changes that have followed.

Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez reveals how life changed
after prison

Back in 2022, Velasquez pursued Harry Goularte, a man he accused of
molesting one of his young relatives in San Jose, California. He
even shot at Goularte's vehicle, but he came away uninjured.
Velasquez was later sentenced to five years in prison for the
incident.

After being released in February upon serving 11 months, Velasquez
has been focused on rebuilding his life. He is currently mentoring
fighters at
American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose.

“I’ve always been a teacher even though I didn’t necessarily think
I was or I didn’t want to,†Velasquez told NBC. “But now I’m taking more on that road of
teaching others, but I’m still looking to learn. 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. It all just starts
with forgiving yourself. Hopefully somebody can see my story and
hopefully that can help them as well. They can learn from my
mistakes as well.â€

When Velasquez trains and teaches at AKA, he makes sure to spend
time practicing breathing, which he calls “ascension breath,†to
deal with past traumas.

“The breathing helps you get rid of or work through some traumas,
things that you haven’t let go of, but also the day-to-day, let go
of things in the moment so you can just focus on what you’re doing
here, and that’s the specific form of combat,†Velasquez added.

Two Dutch heavyweight combat sports legends are reportedly in talks
to meet.

Former
Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Alistair
Overeem and longtime Glory heavyweight champion Rico
Verhoeven are in negotiations for a boxing match in Amsterdam,
per a new report.

Alistair Overeem and Rico Verhoeven reportedly negotiating
heavyweight boxing showdown in Amsterdam

Black Book PR, which represents Overeem, shared a post from popular
boxing news outlet Boxing.media on their Instagram stories, drawing
attention to the potential matchup. The post claims Overeem and
Verhoeven, who were scheduled to square off on two previous
occasions, could finally lock horns in a boxing match at Johan
Cruijff ArenA in Amsterdam.

The post further claims that the boxing clash will be the first of
three bouts, with the two heavyweights then competing in MMA and
kickboxing.

Overeem hasn't competed in the UFC since his 2021 loss to Alexander
Volkov. He fought Badr Hari in
kickboxing under the Glory banner in 2022, initially winning via
decision before it was overturned to a no-contest after he tested
positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Meanwhile, Verhoeven, who has one professional MMA bout and win on
his record, is widely regarded as one of kickboxing’s most
accomplished heavyweights. He's unbeaten in his last 22 kickboxing
bouts and took on Oleksandr Usyk in his most recent combat sports
outing, getting finished in the last second of their boxing clash
in May, which has since garnered much criticism for the
stoppage.

Islam
Makhachev is settling in nicely at welterweight, which gives
him even more confidence.

Makhachev (28-1) recently revealed that his training camp for his

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight debut was
challenging and that he's better adjusted to the higher weight
class going into his first title defense at 170 pounds. The former
lightweight champ takes on Ian Garry
(17-1) in the main event of UFC
330, which takes place Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in
Philadelphia.

Islam Makhachev details his transition from lightweight
champion to UFC welterweight titleholder

Makhachev was focused primarily on securing the belt rather than
chasing a finish against Jack
Della Maddalena last year. The Russian claims to be more
comfortable going into his second welterweight outing, as he isn't
lifting weights during camp.

“Now, I feel more comfortable, honestly,†Makhachev told MMA
Junkie. “The first camp, so hard. I just tried to gain weight, do a
lot of lifting program, but this camp I stay at the same weight.
I’m not going to go down. Now, I’m like real welterweight. This
camp I think is more easy, but you can’t say it’s easy, because
we’re not lifting much.â€

Makhachev now wants a finish after his title-winning effort came
via decision. Given that his body is more suited to the weight
class, he's open to taking risks in order to force a stoppage
inside 25 minutes.

“This fight, I will take more risks to finish my opponent, because
I like finishing my opponents,†Makhachev added. “This fight, I
think honestly, from the first time when I take him down, I have a
chance to finish him, because I saw his ground game – it’s not so
good, you know? He has good striking, long reach, long arm, and he
controls the distance, always goes back, but I see when I take him
down, it’s going to be a finish.”