Pro Athletes going MMA

Personally I like the idea of boxers and other pro athletes learning mma and getting into the octagon. Which athletes do you think could really succeed if they were to step into octagon after some training?

Depends what sport, and what stage you are talking about.

Imagine Lebron James for example. I think he would be great simply because he is a physical freak, but he would be destroyed going up against more technical fighters.

Herschel walker is a pretty good example, because he has not faced top guys.

Bobby Lashley is also, and when he faced a step up he got wrecked.

 

 

I think the future of this sport is going to come from athletes who come out of college and go right into MMA.

so who do you think would succeed?...

I look at a lot of theese young football players.

If you want names..

Chris Polk out of University of Washington.

This kid plays runningback and did wrestling in highschool. He only weighs around 160 pound but he is used to throwing guys over 220+ pounds onto the ground. I would love to see this kid develope into a fighter, his raw strength is terrofying.

@mike, i dont have any specific names for athletes, but the up and coming guys that are still young enough to learn a new skill set but are the physical freaks right now.
Everytime i think about how athletic some guys in the sports i dont enjoy are i get excited about some of the potential that will join our sport in the coming years.  Imagine a couple years from now theres a guy that makes gsp look like a chump, or anderson silva looks slow next to these young kids. Its going to be amazing to watch.

tacoma you from wa? and yeah chris polk would be interesting  to have brought in. i dont like the thought of the pro heavyweights coming because i believe they could just slug it out. a good athlete that would be interesting from boxing would be money mayweather  and manny paquio

Well I'd never of thought Herschel Walker would even do ok in MMA, but look at him.  Anything can happen!  Even though his first 2 opponents weren't that great, he's doing much better than I thought!

I believe the professional boxing elite would have a chance at moderate success at MMA if a dedicaited training regiment was involved. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is 33 years old, Many Pacquiao is 32, therefore age wouldn't necessarily be a factor as Randy Coutoure didnt start his MMA career until his mid 30s. Both men have demonstrated there athletic ability, willingness to be the best and fast devistating hands and boxing technique. If they hooked up with a legit mma gym and put some time into some grappling i believe that they could beat some ligit mma contenders in there respective weight division, however their lack of well roundedness would cause them all sorts of problems against the elite fighters if any division.

I think kelly pavlick would do well hes a great boxer and he has great wreslting also put the two together and you got a beast

I just can't get behind boxers making the switch and being successful on the big stage. I'm not saying it's impossible, but making a switch in training when you are already an elite athlete in one sport is pretty tough. This is the reason you don't see many athletes doing well in multiple professional sports. It does happen but the #'s are small.
As far as Randy goes. Well. Not only is the man an ageless freak of nature. But he also had the helping hand of starting his training in MMA during it's true uprise.
The real next gen stars will be kids that have been training not just striking, wrestling or BJJ at a young age, but MMA as a whole.

Good point but some athletes are multidementional they can be pros at several things i think athletes would draw a lot of attention to how they work at trying to  be the best at mma kinda like hershell walker. good at football and well kinda good at fighting get a young him in the cage backed with good workout ethic and the drive to fight you could have a good fighter. id like to see someone like ray lewis in the octagon.