Jose Canseco has been retired from Major League Baseball for eight years, but he keeps finding ways to put himself into the headlines. The latest example? He has agreed to fight the 7-foot-2 Korean kickboxer Hong Man Choi in a mixed martial arts tournament in Japan.
The Japanese MMA promotion Dream has announced on its web site that Canseco vs. Choi will take place on May 26 in Tokyo as an opening round fight in an eight-man MMA tournament. Although that particular fight is a freak show, the full May 26 fight card, Dream 9, actually has some very good fights lined up featuring some of the top competitors in MMA, including Gegard Mousasi, Kid Yamamoto, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and JZ Calvan.
But if this card gets any attention in the United States beyond hard-core MMA fans, it will be a result of the presence of Canseco, who has dabbled in boxing before (losing to former Philadelphia Eagle Vai Sikahema and drawing with former child star Danny Bonaduce) but has never tried MMA.
Against Choi, Canseco will have his hands full: Choi is far from a great MMA fighter, but he's a skilled professional kickboxer who will have a huge size advantage over Canseco. If Canseco can't beat Danny Bonaduce, let's just hope he doesn't get seriously hurt against Hong Man Choi.
Crossing Over to MMA
Former baseball star and controversial author Jose Canseco is scheduled make his MMA debut next month. Click through to see more professional athletes that have tried to cross over to MMA.
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Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Did he watch Johnnie Morton . I probably predict worse for canseco. Choi can still fight
Great point, Frederick. Johnnie Morton left the ring on a stretcher after fighting Bernard Ackah. I would think the difference in MMA ability is greater between Choi and Canseco than it was between Morton and Ackah.
Surprising that he didn't learn his lesson in the Bonaduce fight. This is dangerous for Jose... but if somebody's willing to pay to watch, the show will go on.
Lots of good fights on this card: Kawijiri-Calvan, Mousasi-Hunt, Yamamoto-Warren, Jacare-Miller are all fights I'm looking forward to. If Canseco leads some Americas who don't know MMA to watch this card, they're going to be very impressed with the fights.
Yeah...This is a stupid idea...Choi is a true fighter...Canseco better start juicing back up!!
lol conseco wont pass the drug test
jose and his hooker girlfriends will do anything for MONEY.
i hope he gets his A$s kicked
I think my kid could beat Bonaduce. This guy must be a worn out cull.
Bonaduce beat this guy?
Barbie could beat Bonaduce.
Infant son could be Bonaduce.
YAWN!!!
Hopefully he's a better "Martial Artist" than he was baseball player! Although, since he only had a draw with Danny Bonaduce, maybe he should stick to fighting women instead? BTW- Do they allow steriod use at Jap kick-boxing tournaments? Just curious.
In reality Choi is a very tough opponent for anyone. Canseco will definitely be knocked out by Choi ... I'm guessing a knee.
Could that be by Conseco accidentaly running into Choi's knee?
Either this pays better than we can imagine or Jose is mui loco.
Either way, this is one hell of a publicity stunt. I'm not sure about the possibility about attracting more American Fans to the sport though. Afterall, Conseco wasn't very inspiring in his last boxing bouts.
If Jose thought that homerun ball bouncing off his head hurt, just wait until this giant puts his foot upside his noggin. Lights out baby!!!
that was funny
Man I have seen some idiotic decisions made by washed up ex-athletes-(wait, check that-he was a baseball player and as such not an athlete) but this one has to be about the worst. It was fun watching you Jose when you were alive...
HIS OWN WIFE BEAT HIM ON NATIONAL TV BY SAYING HE HAS A VERY SMALL PACKAGE.HOW CAN HE EVER LIVE THAT DOWN, THIS FIGHT IS STUPID, BUT A MONEY MAKER FOR PROMOTERS