Just watched Canseco take a dive in celeb boxing from last night and it got me thinking.
Japan has always used famous pro wrestlers and even sometimes actors and youtube stars in JMMA and kickboxing.
KSW enjoys success featuring popular strongman crossover to MMA, Pudz.
Even UFC gave CM Punk a couple fights and Toney as well.
Combate and Bellator have featured popular pro wrestlers in fights too.
Question here... we have seen what the Paul brothers have done to create casual interest in boxing. Is there a market out there for celeb MMA? Now when I say celeb I'm talking popular retired football, baseball, basketball, hockey players and pro wrestlers fighting each other in MMA?
To me, retired football players with big names seem like they could create big interest in MMA vs one another or pro wrestlers.
At one point, Hershal Walker vs Kurt Angle could have been huge I would imagine.
No I don't want to see 50 year olds fighting but 35-40 year old retired athletes fighting one another and other celebs in MMA seems like something that could get some big mainstream interest. Especially if its on CBS, ESPN, etc...
It's a lot harder to get a serviceable degree of competence in MMA than it is in boxing, unfortunately. So while I'd love to see "celebrities" bringing more attention to the sport, I'm not sure it's feasible.
It's a lot harder to get a serviceable degree of competence in MMA than it is in boxing, unfortunately. So while I'd love to see "celebrities" bringing more attention to the sport, I'm not sure it's feasible.
You are 100% correct.
To be honest, I'd just watched Canseco's ring entrance vs Choi that Caposa shared and I'd also just had 32 ounces of black coffee and it inspired me to make this thread... too much caffeine.