Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most entertaining personalities in all of sports. Aside from being one of the best basketball players to ever grace the court, Shaq made a name for himself due to the ties he has created in different fields. Recently, he revealed the unexpected story of how he first came to be introduced to the UFC and MMA.
For those unaware, Shaquille O’Neal has become one of the biggest media personalities since hanging up the shoes. That said, he is also a huge MMA fan and had begun inculcating Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing into his daily regiment in 2000. Since then, his love for the sport has also seen him appear cageside for numerous UFC events, where he has made his presence known.
In the past, Shaquille O’Neal has had interactions with many UFC fighters such as Zhang Weili, Sean O’Malley, and many others. Notably, he once went viral for consoling Max Holloway’s son Rush who was in attendance for UFC 236. Thus, over the years, Shaq has become integrated into the MMA community, which even led to him being a playable character on UFC Undisputed 2010.
Shaquille O Neal reveals how he first got introduced to the UFC
For the most part, many may be wondering how Shaquille O’Neal came to be introduced to the sport in the first place. Whilst his associations and friendships with several fighters are well documented, the true story of how he first got into the sport has been a story not told until now.
In a recent episode of Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, Shaq revealed the surprising chance encounter that he had with UFC legend Vitor ‘The Phenom’ Belfort:
“We’re at training camp in Hawaii, and I’m walking down the street, and a motherf***** grabs me, and he’s strong as f*ck. “I’m thinking, ‘Oh shit, it’s about to go down.’ And I turn around and we square up, and Vitor Belfort goes like this [raises hands] ‘No, no, no, man! I’m a fan of yours.’ I think this was UFC 1.”
“Real talk. Motherf*cker just grabs me so I’m getting ready to square up, ‘No, no, no! I’m just a fan!’ and he gave me tickets to his fight. And he beat some dude who had on some overalls. …
“The motherf*cker grabbed me in the middle of the street. So in my mind, I’m about to f*** him up, because he’s little. But he was nice. ‘No, no, no. My friend, my friend. I fight in the UFC. We have a fight.’ ‘Motherf*cker what time?’ We didn’t have shit to do. He beat some 7-foot dude in some overalls, and I had never seen a sport like that. So I’ve been a fan ever since.”
As such, it would seem that Vitor Belfort capitalized on the opportunity of having a big star like Shaquille O’Neal watch his fight. However, contrary to what Shaq states, Belfort did not invite him for UFC 1, rather it was his first professional contest which was a 12-second knockout of Jon Hess at SuperBrawl 2 in 1996. Thereafter, Shaq and Vitor’s friendship blossomed even further after the latter knocked out a man trying to antagonize the basketball star.
Shaquille O’Neal clears the air on his relationship and dynamic with Kobe Bryant
For the most part, Shaquille O’Neal’s friendship with Vitor Belfort very nearly got off on the wrong foot. Had it not been for the Brazilian’s timely interjection, Shaq would have had a much different impression of the fighter. That said, troubled friendships are also something that O’Neal was familiar with during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers.
In 1996, following his move to the Lakers from Orlando Magic, Shaquille O’Neal was playing alongside the then-teenage sensation Kobe Bryant. With the duo, under the guidance of coach Phil Jackson, winning a three-peat, consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002, they became hailed as NBA elites. However, there were often rumors and stories of them not getting along, leading to Shaq’s departure in 2004.
Thus, Shaquille O’Neal states, “Imma throw one word out there, respect. There’s this misconception that you gotta be buddy-buddy.”
Secondly, I wanna say, I’m the motherf*****g big dog, there ain’t no other. That’s how I’m thinking, that’s my mentality. So he came in (Kobe Bryant), his first three years, but now when he starts to become a big dog, he’s thinking the same way. And the reason why I feel, it never got in the way between us, ’cause you need that. My thing was, just play the right way.”
So when people talk about the rift, I think it’d be a better story if we didn’t win. We won 3 out of 4. If I had it all over and do it again, I wouldn’t change not one thing, ever.” Further, he proved his point even more by adding, “Our first championship, we win, it’s a thousand motherf*****s on the court. And you see the sea split, just watch Kobe right now. Who’s arms is he jumping in? I’ll wait. Bingo. But he hated me right?”
Thus, as Shaquille O’Neal states, he was used to being the Alpha in his teams. However, with Bryant also having the same mentality and stance, he was able to respect his teammate. As such, he believes that any and all reports of a rift between the two were greatly exaggerated and the two always had a competitive yet, focused mindset, with the most important motive being that of winning.