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?
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