Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most famous Americans alive. The four-time NBA champion and one-time MVP dominated the sport of Basketball in his prime. Nonetheless, his favorite sport to watch is not basketball but the UFC. As such, O’Neal is friends with many big names in combat sports.
Kamaru Usman, Alexander Volkanosvki, and Henry Cejudo, among others are friends with Shaq. However, O’Neal’s first friend from the UFC was Vitor Belfort, the controversial UFC champion. They are very close, as Belfort once hit a man for the basketball star back in the day. O’Neal revealed the story on Cejudo and Usman’s Pound 4 Pound podcast.
He [Vitor Belfort] knocked somebody out in the bar for me one time…Dude was talking cr*zy, and Vitor just came out of nowhere, bing bing, and I’m looking at the dude on the phone like, ‘Go, man.’
Shaquille O’Neal via Pound 4 Pound podcast
Cops came after the incident, but O’Neal took care of it for the soon-to-be UFC champion. O’Neal’s story surprised the podcast hosts, particularly Cejudo, who stated that Belfort is a changed man. Cejudo knew of the bond Belfort had with O’Neal and Kobe Bryant as Belfort had revealed it to him. However, the Brazilian assaulting another man for O’Neal was a surprise for Cejudo.
Belfort had a storied career in the UFC, where he was the light heavyweight champion in 2005. After losing the title, he fought for the middleweight title twice and the light heavyweight title once. His resume has a lot of legends, such as Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Randy Couture, and Chuck Liddell. In the UFC, Belfort was one of the best strikers. He produced several highlight reel knockouts. Moreover, he was an expert in BJJ, as evidenced by his Bronze medal at the 2001 ADCC championships.
Did Vitor Belfort introduce Shaquille O’Neal to MMA?
The UFC has become the premier MMA promotion, but it had a tough time after its inception in the 1990s. However, Shaquille O’Neal has been a fan of the sport since the mid-1990s. Now, he is one of the hardcore fans of the sport.
Shaquille O’Neal with Vitor Belfort (Image via: Instagram)Interestingly, Vitor Belfort introduced O’Neal and several other basketball players to the sport of MMA. O’Neal revealed how he met the soon-to-be UFC light heavyweight champion and how the Brazilian introduced them to MMA in his appearance on Pound 4 Pound podcast.
We’re in training camp in Hawaii, and I’m walking down the street, and a mothefu**er grabs me, and he’s strong as f**k, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, f**k, it’s about to go down.’ And we turn around, we square up, and Vitor Belfort goes like this, ‘No, no, no, no, man, I’m a fan of you.’ I think this is UFC one, seriously…And he gave me tickets to his fight, and he beat some dude that had on some overalls.
Shaquille O’Neal via Pound 4 Pound podcast
Interestingly, the event Shaq saw was not UFC 1 but SuperBrawl 2. It also happened to be Belfort’s professional MMA debut. The Brazilian knocked out his opponent, the 6’7″ Jon Hess, in just 12 seconds. Since the fight, Shaquille O’Neal has become a lifelong MMA fan. The late Kobe Bryant, a former teammate, was also a fan, especially the UFC. Bryant even considered investing in the company before his untimely death.
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