Bob Sapp, the American football player/kickboxer/mixed martial artist/professional wrestler, has had one of the most bizarre careers of any athlete in history. And he's got another bizarre week ahead of him: On Tuesday he'll fight Sokoudjou in an MMA fight at Dream 11 in Japan, and on Wednesday he'll fight a kickboxing match in Hong Kong.
No, it's not normal for a fighter to have fights on back-to-back days, but Sapp tried to spin it in his Dream press conference as evidence that he's been working hard, noting that he stopped training with Maurice Smith and moved to California to start training with Antonio McKee.
"I've been training in all sorts of fighting," Sapp said. "Stand-up, for kickboxing which I will fight on October 7 in Hong Kong, and also I'll be fighting Sokoudjou in mixed martial arts on October 6. I've been training mixed martial arts and kickboxing so I think that will give me better overall conditioning to become a world champion."
Sorry, but I don't see Sapp becoming a world champion, and I don't see him taking fights on back-to-back days as proof that he's working hard. I see it as proof that he's trying to cash as many different paychecks as he can. Sapp also has pro wrestling in South Korea, MMA in China and kickboxing in France on his schedule, and he says he'll fight twice a month for the next few months.
In Sapp's last fight, against Bobby Lashley in June, he looked like he just wanted to collect his check and get out of there. I think that's how he'll look on Tuesday against Sokoudjou, too.
The second part of Sapp's Dream 11 press conference is below:
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