Former NHL tough guy Donald Brashear has played in over 1000 professional NHL hockey games and amassed over 2,600+ in penalty minutes playing for various teams coast to coast. Now the former hockey enforcer plans on using his fists to try mixed martial arts when he debuts at a Ringside 11 event on June 4 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
Brashear is just the next in a line of athletes who have transitioned from other sports into mixed martial arts, such as former NFL players Herschel Walker, Matt Mitrione, Brendan Schaub, and even former UFC champ Brock Lesnar who moved from professional wrestling to playing preseason games with the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaking to The Canadian Press, Brashear talked about making the transition from Hockey to MMA, and training for his first fight at 39-years of age.
“In hockey, shifts are 30 or 40 seconds, but this is a five-minute shift and then you rest for one minute… But I train a lot. I’m a professional and I know what it takes. That’s why I played (hockey) for 18 years. I’m very excited. It feels a bit like my first game in the NHL. I’m not going against a guy with five years experience, so I’ll try to use that to my advantage. This is a discipline and you need time to get better at it. But I know a bit about fighting. I know about techniques. I have a gift for fighting and I have pros around me helping me. I’m pretty confident I can do it.”
Brashear faces another former hockey tough guy in Martin Trempe, who is 0-2 as a professional mixed martial artist. Both men fight on the preliminary card of the event which is headlined by a middleweight matchup between former UFC vets Patrick “The Predator” Cote and Todd “Bulldog” Brown.