Tag: shaquille oneal

Ronda Rousey has faith in Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal’s abilities inside the cage. 

Speaking with TMZ Sports, Rousey responded positively to O’Neal’s claim that he could last 45 seconds against her in a full-on mixed martial arts bout. 

“Yeah, you know, if a chick could last past 45 seconds, I don’t see why Shaq couldn’t,” Rousey said. 

Lasting 45 seconds in the cage with Rousey—the undefeated and seemingly untouchable UFC women’s bantamweight champion—is no easy feat. 

Her last two opponents, Alexis Davis and Cat Zingano, didn’t last that long—combined. 

At UFC 175 in July 2014, Davis made it just 16 seconds with Rousey before the referee was forced to stop the contest. In that fight, Rousey immediately took the center of the Octagon, tossed Davis on her head and rained down punches until the man in charge waved the fight off. 

In her quest to constantly one-up herself, however, Rousey had something even quicker in mind for her most recent challenger, Zingano. At UFC 184 in February, Zingano flew out of the gates with a flying knee, and the bout was essentially sealed. 

Off balance from her attack, Zingano was forced into a scramble on the ground with Rousey, and the MMA savant snatched her arm in short order, ending the bout via armbar in just 14 seconds. 

While Shaq may not have professional fighting experience, he does dabble in MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. On top of this, he is a large, large man.

At 7’1″ and somewhere around 350 pounds, Shaq weighs more than two-and-a-half times the bantamweight limit of 135 pounds under which Rousey holds her title.

He may not be as skilled as Davis or Zingano, but he’s massive, insanely strong and a world-class athlete. 

For somebody like him, lasting 45 seconds with Rousey inside the UFC Octagon isn’t so far-fetched. For the rest of us, though, it’d be surprising to see the clock hit double digits. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal believes he could step into the world of mixed martial arts and perform better against UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey than some of her previous challengers. 

OK, so maybe Shaq didn’t explicitly say that, but he did say during TNT’s Inside the NBA he could “last 45 seconds” with Rousey, a time stamp that is significantly better than the 14 seconds of cage time enjoyed by the most recent challenger, Cat Zingano (h/t FoxSports). Before Zingano, Alexis Davis lasted just 16 seconds with Rousey, so Shaq‘s claim of 45 seconds would be nearly triple the benchmark set by other professional fighters.  

Let’s be clear: Any talk of Rousey vs. a man is silly and should only be discussed in good fun. Shaq embraces the idea of “good fun.” 

Besides being an MMA fan, Shaq has trained MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu for years, so he’s somewhat qualified to estimate how long he’d last against the likes of Rousey. 

He’s also a giant, if you weren’t aware. 

At 7’1″ and 324 pounds, Shaq was a man among boys during his 19-year NBA career. He frequently overpowered and embarrassed other 7-footers, and he’s likely put on some weight since his days on the hardwood. 

Against Rousey, the size difference would be comical, and I truly don’t know whether Rousey‘s technique would be enough to get the job done without tiring him out a bit first. A guess of 45 seconds seems entirely reasonable when we’re talking about a man of Shaq‘s sheer size and strength. 

What do you think? Is Shaq overestimating himself, or could he really last 45 seconds with Rousey inside the UFC Octagon?

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com