Former New York Knicks and Boston Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis is seriously considering becoming the tallest fighter to ever compete in a mixed martial arts cage.
When Porzingis entered the NBA a decade ago at 20 years old, he was dubbed a basketball unicorn. The 7-foot-2 Latvian was able to do stunning things for a player of his size. He was very athletic, could shoot from distance, and was an above-average ball handler. Well, it seems he wants to now be a unicorn in another sport: Cage fighting.
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“MMA is a sport that is very close to my heart. Number one in terms of viewing. That’s the thing I’m going to light up on, so I decided to participate in a new MMA project,” Porzingis told Sporta Centrs this week. “Everything is still in process. When we approach the final result, I’ll be able to tell you more.
“I’ve tried my hand at MMA, but I promised one of the clubs I represented that I would not do so during my career.”
The tallest fighter to ever compete in the UFC and MMA in general is 24-fight veteran Stefan Struve. The Dutch star was 7 feet tall. The Knicks and Celtics veteran would beat him by two inches if he made the jump to MMA when he ended his NBA career.
Could Kristaps Porzingis make it to the UFC?
If Porzingis were truly dedicated to being a serious MMA fighter, his physical gifts alone would give him a big advantage. It takes a pretty good athlete to make it to the NBA. And when healthy, Porzingis has always been an above-average athlete for a player of his size.
The big issue is those long legs that have given him the reputation of being injury-prone. Since it would be difficult for almost all of his opponents to reach his head, they will target his legs. Considering how beat up they already are, they could be a major weakness against a heavyweight that knows how to deliver effective kicks.
Could Kristaps Porzingis make it to the UFC? It’s possible. More than ever, the UFC has leaned toward the entertainment side of fight sports. While they won’t let him compete in the Octagon with no experience like they did for WWE legend CM Punk in 2016, if he scored two or three wins on the regional scene, they could definitely fast-track him to the company to bank big money off his NBA notoriety for at least one fight.
