Lakers forward Metta World Peace, aka Ron Artest, is one of the most controversial characters on the court.
Seemingly out of nowhere, fellow colorful personality UFC light heavyweight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson tweeted the following to Artest around 2 a.m. on Monday:
“Hey @MettaWorldPeace you a beast on the court… we can box a few rounds for charity.”
Artest, who recently was eliminated on the ABC show Dancing with the Stars, expressed no problem with now taking his talents to the ring when he tweeted back:
“Rampage gonna test my chin for charity!! This will be the biggest heavyweight fight outside klits and haye!! (sic)” is what Artest tweeted around 2 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday.
Rampage is fresh off of a submission loss to light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at UFC 135, so the charity boxing match seems at least somewhat plausible in the sense that it will be a while before Jackson is back in the Octagon.
Meanwhile, Artest is dealing with the NBA lockout, so it makes sense that he would have time to train for an extracurricular activity like a boxing match.
Of course, it would be foolish to ignore the fact that Artest has no prior fight experience and Rampage is one of the most recognizable veteran faces in MMA today, charity fight or not.
While it would probably not make much of a difference, Artest would have the height, weight and reach advantage in this fight, with his official profile at NBA.com listing him as standing 6’7″ and 260 pounds.
Sherdog.com lists Rampage at 6’1″, 204 lbs., although many fans and fighters alike have been told that Jackson can weigh as much as 250 lbs. between fights.
Additionally, neither the NBA nor the UFC has confirmed or denied that this fight will take place, while both Artest and Jackson have yet to mention which charities are in the running to sponsor such a contest.
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