Shaquille O’Neal is not the GOAT of basketball, as he has stated in the past. However, he is arguably the most dominant NBA player of all time due to his sheer athleticism. Shaq stood over 7 feet tall, weighed more than 300 pounds, and still dominated the game, unlike anyone else.
Nonetheless, the former Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat star does not think the NBA nor the NFL has the most athletic players on their roster. For O’Neal, most athletic humans do not play basketball, football, or tennis. Shaq revealed who they are on the Pound 4 Pound podcast.
You guys [UFC athletes] are probably the greatest athletes ever because you have to, like us [NBA Athletes] – run, jump. Football [NFL athletes]- run, tackle. Tennis – tuk tuk tuk. There’s no knock on everybody, but you guys, the way you train, the way you get hit, knocked out, knocking people out, you guys are the greatest athletes.
Shaquille O’Neal via Pound 4 Pound podcast
Shaq has firsthand knowledge of the athleticism of the UFC fighters. Francis Ngannou, the ex-UFC heavyweight champion, easily picked up the NBA star. Surprisingly, Zhang Weili, the strawweight champion of the UFC, also did the same.
Shaq has been a fan of the sport of MMA ever since Vitor Belfort gave him tickets to what was the Brazilian’s professional MMA debut. O’Neal now has many friends in the UFC, including the Pound 4 Pound podcast hosts Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman.
Shaquille O’Neal’s favorite fighters in the UFC to watch
Since he saw Vitor Belfort knock out the much bigger Jon Hess in seconds, Shaquille O’Neal has closely followed MMA. As such, he also has a friendship with the UFC CEO, Dana White. Shaq does not actively watch every UFC event but has followed the fights of certain fighters. The ex-NBA MVP revealed who they are to Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman on the Pound 4 Pound podcast.
Shaquille O’Neal (Credits: Yardbarker)Usman, Israel Adesanya, Sean O’Malley, Francis Ngannou, and Jon Jones are the favorite fighters of Shaq. Interestingly, O’Neal revealed he found it difficult to pronounce the last name of ‘The Last Stylebender.’ Moreover, he realized on the podcast that O’Malley was American as he thought O’Malley was from Scotland.
O’Neal is also privy to the fighting style of Cejudo and Usman. Shaq referenced Cejudo’s fighting style as that of ‘Pitbull’ whereas Usman’s was ‘Smooth’. He even attributed their unique fighting style to their becoming UFC champions.
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