🎤 Interview by “D-Man,” CTF Inmate Correspondent
Building, Breathing, and Giving Back
I kicked off this week’s interview by telling Cain about last Monday’s breathwork class — how it took me on the deepest journey I’ve had yet. I went so hard that when I rolled up my yoga mat afterward, even after wiping the puddles off the top, there was still a lake of sweat underneath. I just wanted him to know how much that session fired me up — it jump-started a great week.
On to the interview.
A few days earlier, on Saturday, I had given Cain a question to sit with — something deeper than usual, something I hoped would spark a thoughtful response:
If you could build something out of wood with your bare hands, and give it to someone you love, what would you build — and who would you give it to?
Cain didn’t disappoint. After thinking about it overnight, he said:
"I’d build a tombstone out of petrified wood for my brother. We still have his ashes — he didn’t want a standard burial. I’d place it in the forest outside Yuma, Arizona, where we grew up and spent our time. I’d probably spread half the ashes there, and bury the rest with the tombstone."
You could feel the weight of that answer. And maybe, just maybe, a glimpse of something Cain might do one day.
🤝 Giving Back Inside the Walls
Bringing the conversation back to the present, I asked: What groups have you joined regularly, or been invited to, here on the yard?
Cain said:
"I was invited to the graduation for men finishing Empathy in Action — I heard testimonies of how this group, where victim-survivors dialogue with the men here for eight weeks, gave them a new purpose in life."
He also shared that he’s started attending We Care — a weekly group that connects with Monterey Bay County youth, sharing real testimony about incarceration and pointing them toward a better path. He’s been to WAR (a veterans’ group that helps with PTSD), and has attended services or ceremonies with the Latter-Day Saints, Seventh-Day Adventists, Spanish-speaking Protestants (on Father’s Day), and a Native Sweat Lodge for healing.
I asked if he used to go to church on the outside.
"Kind of the same," he said. "If someone invited me, I’d go. But I didn’t have a home church. I’m very spiritual, not so religious."
I wanted to dig deeper into that side of his upbringing — but I filed it away for another day.
Switching gears, I asked about breathwork:
If you could guide just one person — anyone in the world — through a breathwork journey, who would it be, and why?
Cain’s face lit up.
"My daughter, Coral. I think she’s at a point in her life where she’s ready, and it would help her healing journey. I’d love to share that and see the spark in her eyes."
Man, I felt that. I’ve got a daughter the same age — and there’s nothing in this world I’d want more than to see that spark of healing in her eyes.
🌱 Mentorship and Giving Back
Next, I asked: What advice would you give someone who tries breathwork once and feels like it ‘didn’t work’?
Cain’s reply was pure gold.
"Acceptance. Every journey is meaningful in its own way. No journey is good or bad — each one is teaching you something. Don’t judge it or expect a certain outcome. Be open — each journey gives you exactly what you need. And they’ll all be different."
On to mentorship. I asked: What advice would you give to a 16-year-old who feels lost?
Cain took a moment, thoughtful.
"First, have patience with yourself. Second, God has you on your own road — it might not make sense now, but you’ll understand it later in life. Third, life is about completing the full circle — closing that loop."
And when it came to his mentors, I asked: Who’s been the biggest in your fighting life?
Without hesitation:
"My high school wrestling coach, Shawn Rustad. He came from Iowa State and taught us that Iowa style. My freshman and sophomore years, he’d run me until I fainted. I wouldn’t get pushed that hard again until my second fight with Dos Santos."
I grinned and had to ask: Is that where your legendary cardio came from?
"Ya, no one had ever pushed me that hard or would push me that hard again until Dos Santos"
Sundays with Cain: A Conversation with a Warrior
There’s something electric about talking with Cain Velasquez — that rare mix of calm intensity and deep reflection. I found myself fascinated as Cain pieced together thoughts, some of which he may never have considered until the questions made him look inward.
I asked him straight up: What fight — win or lose — taught you the most about yourself?
Without missing a beat, as if on cue, Cain said,
"My first rematch with Dos Santos taught me my limitations. That there are no limitations. It showed me how far I could go inside myself — I found my true depth."
It was raw. Honest. And it set the tone.
Next, I hit him with a question fighters must wrestle with at some point: If you could go back and change one decision in your fight career, would you?
Cain shook his head.
"No. Everything happened the way it was supposed to. The lessons from my wins, my losses — they were made for me, at those exact times, to make me who I am now."
No regrets. Just growth.
Curious about his roots, I dug into his early days: Did you start in USA Club, where kids wrestle as young as three or four?
Cain smiled.
"No, I started at 11 — in junior high."
Were you already a heavyweight?
"Yes."
Were you winning?
"Yeah. My second year, when I was 12, I won the Arizona Heavyweight Freestyle State Championship."
Let me pause right here — I need everyone reading this to understand how insane that is. I wrestled in USA Club myself, and by my second year I still felt like a blip on the radar next to kids who’d been on the mat since they could walk. Don’t expect your kid to be a state champ in year two — Cain has it. That undefinable “it” factor most people just don’t.
I stayed on this thread, hooked. Did you keep doing Freestyle and Greco through high school?
"Yeah. Sophomore year I even started refereeing tournaments for younger kids to earn money for my trips to nationals."
And how did you do at nationals?
"My junior year I took 2nd in Greco, 4th in Freestyle. Senior year, 3rd in Greco, 2nd in Freestyle."
My jaw dropped. So colleges must’ve been blowing up your phone, right?
Cain got real.
"My grades were terrible. That held me back. I ended up at Iowa Central Junior College."
Was that because of the Iowa connection — Shawn Rustad, maybe?
"No. They just had a strong program, so I went."
And how was that ride?
"Our team won the Junior College National Team Championship. I was the heavyweight national champ."
I had to pause — I couldn’t even move on to Arizona and D1. The guy’s journey was a rollercoaster of grit and glory.
Switching gears, I asked: What’s been the single most unexpected blessing of your time here at CTF?
Cain’s answer hit home.
"I’ve learned a higher level of compassion — how to give it to people I wouldn’t have before."
I knew he meant people like me — those of us who’ve made mistakes, bad choices, but aren’t bad people. Prison teaches you we all have that side; some of us just acted on it.
On personal growth, I circled back: You’ve talked about vulnerability as a strength. When was it hardest for you?
"From junior high through my fight career, I was vulnerable with only a few close people. Everyone else got the mask."
What’s one thing you’re working on improving in yourself right now?
"The Pathless Path. It’s like Forrest Gump — no end goal, life just happens. When opportunities come, I take them. When people invite me somewhere, I see it as the path I’m meant to follow."
(Yeah, I’m watching Forrest Gump again tonight.)
⚡ Fan Question of the Week
From @BJJCory:
When did you first think you could compete in MMA — and when did you believe you could be UFC heavyweight champ?
Cain lit up.
"Junior year at Arizona State. My wrestling coach, Tom Ortiz, suggested MMA and knew a gym in San Jose that would be perfect. He told me to finish college, but that the cage would be my goal."
And the second part — after what fight did you know you could be UFC champ?
Cain didn’t hesitate.
"In college. I knew then."
And that’s Cain Velasquez — a man who always knew where he was headed, even on the pathless path.
That wraps this week’s Sundays with Cain. Like, share, and drop your questions — maybe yours will be next. Until then, this is your ROLL & RUMBLE Beat Reporter, D-Man, signing off from CTF Soledad, California.