Seeing Vince McMahon strap on a pair of gloves and put in a mouthguard to go three rounds in the Octagon with UFC president Dana White would be quite the spectacle — even if the 67-year-old WWE CEO seems somewhat delusional about his chances.
In reality the fight will probably never happen but in honour of McMahon’s brash call-out of White, here’s a look at some of the strangest MMA match-ups ever that really make you wonder if McMahon actually has a shot at making this thing happen after all.
These are in no particular order because trust me, they’re all pretty out there.
Daiju Takase vs. Emanuel Yarbrough, Pride 3 (June 24, 1998)
In his first professional MMA bout, Daiju Takase gave up over 400 pounds against sumo wrestler Emanuel Yarbrough in a fight that included a lot of circular running resulting in a surprising strike submission stoppage victory for Takase.
Randy Couture vs. James Toney, UFC 118 (August 28, 2010)
After an unbelievable amount of smack talk on James Toney’s part leading up to his professional MMA debut, he ran into a pretty tough opponent in UFC Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture. It took all of three minutes for Couture to secure the arm triangle choke that forced Toney to tap.
Take a look at the promo video including much-needed subtitles for the Toney parts.
Ray Mercer vs. Tim Sylvia, Adrenaline MMA 3: Bragging Rights (June 13, 2009)
Pretty much the exact opposite of the Couture-Toney fight in that it showcases former WBO heavyweight champion Ray Mercer’s punching power against former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia whose face likely hurt a lot after that ten-second knockout.
Wanderlei Silva vs. Tatsuya Iwasaki, Pride Shockwave (August 28, 2002)
In order to fully appreciate how ridiculous this match-up was, it’s important to note that Wanderlei Silva was the Pride middleweight champion at the time of the fight and Tatsuya Iwasaki had a record of 0-0 with this being his first professional bout.
Great matchmaking!
Dave Bautista vs. Vince Lucero, CES MMA: Real Pain (October 6, 2012)
Former WWE superstar Dave Bautista made his MMA debut against a washed-up cage fighter in Vince Lucero who proved only Roy Nelson can get away with being so skilled in that kind of body. This one was bad.
Mariusz Pudzianowski vs. Bob Sapp, KSW 19 (May 12, 2012)
This is what happens when you put a former strongman and an offensive lineman in the ring together. The super heavyweight tilt saw Bob Sapp last less than 40 seconds standing with Mariusz Pudzianowski before succumbing to a vicious combination of knees and punches for the TKO decision.
Turns out Pudzianowski had been training with one of the most established MMA camps out there — American Top Team. Oops.
Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki (June 26, 1976)
Widely regarded as the granddaddy of modern MMA, the fight between Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki showcased the talents of the iconic American boxer and legendary Japanese wrestler in a 15-round draw that has since been heavily disputed.
If you speak Japanese, you’re in luck. If not, just enjoy the clips.
___________________________________
Love Twitter? Me too. Give me a follow @PatCwiklinski for all sorts of social media shenanigans.
