Randy Couture will be training suspended NFL stars that violated the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy. New York Jets LB Calvin Pace will be the first take his four week suspension and spend it at Xtreme Couture. Has Randy Couture turned into MMA’s Dr. Drew Pinsky?
Pace won’t be the only suspended NFL player to train with Randy Couture while under suspension. Charles Grant and Will Smith will also train with Couture if and when they are suspended. I thought Randy Couture’s future was a Lyoto Machida fight. Who knew it was running a UFC rehab for NFL stars.
[adinserter block=”1″]I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. The NFL season is only 17 weeks plus playoffs. As we have seen in the last week with Anderson Silva and Mike Swick, injuries happen often in MMA training. Teams aren’t happy as it is to lose a player to suspension. Imagine finding out after four weeks that your player isn’t coming back because someone rolled over on his ankle while MMA training? Yeah, I don’t think that is going to fly.
Dana White said something prophetic recently. After hearing about Rampage Jackson’s role in the A-Team, White said that fighters need to be fighters and made the comparison to actors trying to be fighters, and why guys just don’t stick to what they know well. It was a brilliant and very true statement from the UFC president. It amazes me as to how many pro athletes are never satisfied and want to try something else like fighting, dancing, or acting.
Calvin Pace isn’t the first NFL player caught up in the UFC fascination. Matt Leinart was blasted several weeks ago for what critics perceived as spending unnecessary time doing MMA training. Some of these players actually test the waters in MMA following their NFL career. There are several former NFL players in the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter show. I don’t remember off the top of my head any ex-NFL player having any real success in MMA.
Chad Ochocinco recently made headlines when he declared that he wanted to box professionally after the NFL season. Ocho undergoes a rigorous boxing training program as seen in HBO’s Hard Knocks. He is out of his mind! That would be like one of the girls taking a kickboxing class at the local gym challenging Gina Carano or Cyborg. If anything, it shows a complete lack of respect for professional boxing by Ocho with the same being said about anyone who wants to jump into MMA from the NFL.
It amazes me because NFL players like Calvin Pace are blessed with a God given talent to make millions and play professional NFL football. Why he would want to risk this with MMA training is beyond me. Matt Leinart, well he should be looking for another career anyway. It wouldn’t surprise me at some point if NFL teams prohibit their players from MMA training during the NFL season.
[adinserter block=”2″]I also wonder what Dana White is thinking when he reads about this. Sure, the instant publicity of an NFL player training with a huge UFC star is priceless. At the same time, does he really want his top UFC stars to be associated with athletes who have used performance-enhancement drugs? It is truly a double-edged sword that makes you wonder if you were in UFC’s shoes.
In the words of Dana White, “You’re a fighter; you’re not a movie star. It’s so [censored] funny because fighters want to be movie stars, and movie stars want to act like they’re fighters. Get a [censored] grip. You’re a fighter, and you’re a [censored] movie star. Alright?” – Headlineplanet.com.
Former NFL star Johnnie Morton tries his hand at MMA
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