I spoke to UFC President Dana White today at an event to promote UFC 90, and with the Olympics going on, I asked him what he thinks of the possibility that mixed martial arts will one day be an Olympic sport. He thinks it can happen."I hope I'm alive to see it," White said. "I don't think it's going to happen soon, but then again I thought it was going to take longer than it did for us to get where we are today. ... There's still a lot of work to be done, but seeing mixed martial arts in the Olympics would be incredible."
White said that although the UFC doesn't scout the Olympics looking for talent, he is mindful that some Olympic athletes might want to try professional mixed martial arts when their amateur careers are over.
"When amateur wrestlers get done wrestling, this is something they can do," White said. "Look at Brock Lesnar."
Although MMA in the Olympics might seem like a tough sell, White noted that MMA is, fundamentally, a combination of many disciplines that are already Olympic sports.
"If you combine boxing, judo and wrestling, what do you have?" White said. "That's what mixed martial arts is."
Get the latest gear
