This weekend was a very big weekend for UFC as they held their UFC 100 pay-per-view event in Vegas, and though I’m not sure of the numbers they did, I’m pretty sure it was rather successful. All I know is that a lot of people I know who had never watched any UFC before in their lives were watching it on Saturday night and everybody has been talking about it since.
Still there’s no doubt that the sport is looking for a way to get even bigger and more mainstream. While I’m not sure how Brock Lesnar’s antics after beating Frank Mir will help or hurt the sport, there is one way I know that would be a sure fire way to increase the amount of pay-per-view buys from folks who don’t normally watch MMA. Put Shaq in the Octagon. He wants to be there, and so far, Dana White isn’t ruling it out.
From the LAS VEGAS JOURNAL-REVIEW:
UFC president Dana White sent a Twitter tweet to the 7-foot-1, 325-pound NBA giant on Friday that read: “After u win another championship this year let’s talk.”
O’Neal continues to lobby for a shot in the cage, White said Saturday during a break in the UFC 100 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Asked if he would rule out the possibility, White said, “I would sit down and talk to him.”
Size wouldn’t matter, he said. “We’ve got a lot of little guys that wouldn’t be worried about a guy of that size.”
If it happened, White has no doubt about one outcome.
“It would do a lot of pay-per-views,” he said.
Shaq has trained in mixed martial arts for years so it’s not like he has no idea what he’s doing, but still, I don’t things would go well for him inside the octagon. I know that man has taken a lot of punishment during his time in the NBA from teams playing the Hack-a-Shaq defense, but there’s a slight difference between Vlade Divac slapping your arm and Brock Lesnar pounding your face.
So maybe what the UFC should do if they’re really serious about throwing Shaq into a fight is convince Kobe Bryant to do it as well. That way they can finally settle their beef once and for all.
11:41 am on July 13th, 2009
Shaq couldnt make the 265lb weight limit so why bother. Also if they really want to do it, get him to fight someone like BJ Penn. Otherwise, its just punching between big guys until one goes down and then the survivor hops on him and pounds him in the head until he taps. The heavyweught division will be ruled by meatheads like Lesnar here soon.
Not my version of MMA but a money making thing. Real MMA people have to be shaking their head at what has happened to their sport. Thats the trade for going mainstream.
1:12 pm on July 13th, 2009
Shaq in the octagon - ha-ha-ha!
You ever hear the old saying about guys who have never been punched in the face?
Well, I’m willing to bet that Shaq has never been punched in the face, and if he did, he would crawl up in a little ball and cry like a baby.
2:18 pm on July 13th, 2009
Howie, I’m with you 100%.
Want to know how big a p*ssy Shaq is? Leanne Tweedon said he was too afraid to ask her out - sent one of his buddies over to see if he had a shot!
2:40 am on July 16th, 2009
Good weekend for UFC. but i don’t like boxing.