Midnight Mania! GoFundMe Removes Velasquez Fundraisers

Photo by Aric Crabb/MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images

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Cain Velasquez finds himself in an unexpect…


Cain Velasquez court appearance
Photo by Aric Crabb/MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Cain Velasquez finds himself in an unexpected and unthinkably awful situation, and the hits keep on coming. On Monday, Velasquez was denied bail for his alleged involvement of chasing down and shooting at the man accused of molesting one of his child relatives.

Watch video of that very public chaos here.

If there’s any silver lining to be found, the martial arts community has really rallied behind the former Heavyweight champion. “Free Cain” t-shirts have sold in abundance, and the same hashtag has spread all over social media. Fellow pros, training partners, and regular fans have all supported Velasquez in this difficult time.

One such method to show financial support for lawyer fees and Velasquez’s family was GoFundMe, the popular crowdfunding platform. Unfortunately, those fundraisers have been removed due to the violent nature of Velasquez’s accused crimes. “We can confirm that both fundraisers were removed, and all donors have been refunded,” a GoFundMe spokesperson told MMA Junkie. “GoFundMe prohibits raising money for the legal defense of a violent crime.”

All those who donated have been refunded. American Kickboxing Academy Head Coach Javier Mendez organized one of the fundraisers and announced the removal on his Instagram, alongside another message of support.

Velasquez currently faces a bevy of charges, the most significant of which is attempted murder, which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years behind bars. Velasquez is next scheduled to appear in court on April 12.

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