Former running back Herschel Walker signs up for MMA
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former Heisman trophy winner and twice NFL Pro Bowl running back Herschel Walker has signed a multi-fight contract to compete in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), promoter Strikeforce said on Monday.
A fifth degree black belt in Taekwondo, the 47-year-old Walker begins a 12-week training camp in California next month, Strikeforce said on its website (www.strikeforce.com).
“I will go in there and test myself against any 20-year-old,” Walker said in a statement.
“I want to prove to people who sit on a couch and don’t do anything but criticize other people that, if you’re a true athlete or martial artist, you’re not old until you can’t get up and walk around anymore.
“I’ve been training for several years,” Walker added.
“I would play college football games on Saturday and then compete in martial arts tournaments on Sunday after church I’m now looking forward to opening up another chapter in my life and to competing in MMA.”
After winning the 1982 Heisman trophy as U.S. college football’s outstanding player, Walker played 12 seasons in the NFL with four teams including the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings.
Walker also completed in the 1992 Winter Olympics for the United States in the bobsled and more recently appeared on Donald Trump’s reality show “The Celebrity Apprentice.”
(Writing by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Ed Osmond)
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Jason Frank, from Power Ranger to MMA fighter
A few years ago actor Jason David Frank was used to hearing the familiar sound of fans yelling, “Go, go Power Rangers!” but now he’s ready to hear the roar of a different crowd.
The former action star from the hit series “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” has officially made the move to mixed martial arts, and while training with UFC lightweight Melvin Guillard, he hopes to make his real fighting experience as successful as he did on television.
Frank signed on with Suckerpunch Entertainment recently and hopes to make his professional debut in the very near future.
“I was supposed to fight in 2007, but it fell through. In truth, I’ve wanted to put the work in until I’m ready,” Frank said in an interview from the Suckerpunch website. “I know I have a target on my back. Everyone is going to want to beat up the Green Ranger. But I am no Kimbo; I’ve been training for a very long time. I wanted to get in there before, but I got injured. But I’ll be ready when the time comes.”
The actor-turned-fighter is adding a ground game to what he believes is already an impressive stand-up resume, but he knows it’s a long road to not only becoming a mixed martial artist, but a successful mixed martial artist.
Watch UFC Ultimate Saturday (August 22nd)
If you are bored out of your mind on this Saturday, the UFC will be airing a ton of stuff on Spike TV beginning at 1pm EST. The schedule of events is below:
- Ultimate Fight Night: Keith Jardine vs. Stephan Bonnar (Jardine was robbed in this fight btw) at 1pm
- UFC 75: Rampage Jackson vs. Dan Henderson at 3pm EST
- UFC 89: Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben at 6pm EST
- UFC: Fights For The Troops at 9pm EST
If you have been under a rock somewhere and missed any of these events, do yourself a favor and check’em out. Especially the UFC 75 and Fight For The Troops events.
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