When Cain Velasquez was arrested for attempted murder just over a month ago, the MMA world was shocked. One of the people hit the hardest was AKA’s Kyle Crutchmer.
Crutchmer (8-1) has been training at AKA since he graduated college after a very successful wrestling career. One of the guys he really got close to was former UFC champion Velasquez. So when the news broke, he was heartbroken, especially because they had just talked a few days prior.
“He is such a good dude, man. And, you would think a guy like that with all the success he’s had when you would see him, you know, most of these guys, they’re kind of like, ah, don’t talk to me; ‘you’re not on my level,’ but he’s just such a beautiful soul,” Crutchmer told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview. “The last conversation we had was about our children and our favorite Disney movies and all that. So yeah, I’ve been pretty vocal about it, man. I don’t agree with how California is doing this. But you know, I don’t want to get too heavily involved in what I would say because it can get me in trouble. But yeah, free Cain. That’s all I can really say, let that guy out. He’s not a danger to society; he is a beautiful human, man.”
“He’s helped me so much. He helped me for the Oliver Enkamp fight a lot because he throws a lot of those spinning things. He does a lot of things, and he’s in the gym every day. And he’ll help the worst guy, all the way up to the best guys. He’s just a good dude, man.”
Crutchmer returns to action at Bellator 277 against Dana White’s Contender Series veteran Michael Lombardo. The 28-year old is also finally in the Bellator top 10 welterweight rankings after defeating Oliver Enkamp in his last outing.
Crutchmer is planning to have a good night in his adopted home of San Jose. While he doesn’t like official predictions, he will try and get his second Bellator finish, if it presents itself.
“I’m not like one of those ‘Mystic Mac’ predicting type of guys. I don’t really have that in me,” Crutchmer said. “If I can do what I’ve been doing in my training and my sparring, I think it’ll be a really good night for me.”
Watch the rest of our interview with Kyle Crutchmer above. Crutchmer vs. Lombardo can be seen on the Bellator prelims, available on YouTube.
