Shaq wants to fight in the UFC

As if having a pro wrestler as the heavyweight champ and four former NFL players on this season of the Ultimate Fighter wasn’t enough inter-sports mixing already. Now we have none other than NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal harassing UFC president Dana White for a chance to fight in the Octagon.

Shaquille O'Neal - Image: JR Davis / Newscom

Here’s what Dana White had to say on the subject during an segment on the Dan Le Batard show: “Shaq’s pretty serious, Shaq text messages me all the time and is twittering me all the time saying … he wants to fight Brock is what he says. And I said go win your next NBA championship because he’s gonna win one next year and then we’ll talk. You know he’s been training for 10 years.”

When asked about the potential weight problems – Shaq is 325 pounds while the heavyweight cutoff is 265 pounds – White responded that a fight at super heavyweight might be the way to go before reminding Dan that Brock used to be billed up around that weight before coming to the UFC and getting in hardcore fighter shape.

For those wondering if Shaq is ‘for real’, all I can tell you is he has indeed been training mixed martial arts for years and uses it during the off season to stay fit. Now we just have to wonder if his takedown defense is better than his three pointer skills.