Shaquille O’Neal is a behemoth of a human being, even by NBA standards. Standing at 7ft 1″, most (if not all) people would be severely ill-advised to ever try to take on the big man in a fight. However, despite this daunting size disadvantage, a certain MMA champion strongly believes he could do it.
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Former UFC Flyweight Champion, Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson was recently asked whether he could handle a showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers legend. Standing at 5ft 3″, the 37-year-old hesitated at first, just as anybody else would upon being asked such a question. However, after being goaded a little by Rachel DeMita and other DAZN co-hosts about his diminutive size compared to Shaq, Johnson got a tad bit bolder. After a bit of consideration, he said the following,
“The thing is, Shaq is a specimen, right? He’s big, he’s strong. And I’ve competed against guys who were 250lbs… Could I beat Shaq in hand-to-hand combat? That would be very hard, right? I would have to rely back on my Jiu-jitsu and grappling to take him down, pass his guard and look to submit him.
Would it be hard? Absolutely! [But], I believe in myself, I believe in my skillset, and uh yeah, I think I could take Shaq.”
The champion’s confidence in himself is beyond admirable. And, at the end of the day, he is the best in the Flyweight category for a reason. That being said, the difference between him and Shaq is a whopping 1ft 10″, not to mention the obviously gargantuan difference in weight as well.
For Johnson to use a martial arts style that specializes in grappling and submission holds(jiu-jitsu) against Shaq, it would take a near perfect execution to circumvent the massive difference in weight and wingspan. That alone would pose a massive hurdle in this hypothetical bout. We have to also keep in mind that even though trained MMA professionals are a complete mismatch against civilians, there is a reason there are stringent weight divisions in combat sports.
Additionally, Shaq is far from being clueless about MMA as well. During an interview with ESPN four years ago, the Lakers legend revealed that not only had he tried it, but he even took an active interest in it during his playing days.
“MMA is something that always kept my heart rate up. It was something I was very interested in. I’m a physical guy, I like physicality…”
O’Neal then went on to laud all MMA athletes, calling them the “best athletes on the planet”, due to just the sheer amount of techniques they have to keep in mind to compete in such a complicated sport, which endangers your heath at every point.
It’s clear that Mighty Mouse would have the respect of Shaquille O’Neal, just as much as it would be the other way around. That being said, given the gifts O’Neal was born with, the 7ft 1″ man would go into this potential bout as the favorite.
However, this isn’t to say that O’Neal wouldn’t have worries of his own. After all, as the big man very recently revealed, he is, in fact, afraid of ‘little guys’ who are skilled at the sport of MMA.
Shaquille O’Neal reveals why he doesn’t mess with those smaller than him anymore
During a 2024 appearance on the show ‘Pound 4 Pound’, Shaquille O’Neal was ready to talk about all things MMA. However, just before the interview began, he had to get something out in the open . With a massive smile on his face, he said the following on the show,
“I love y’all of course but I don’t like y’all. Back in my days, I used to smash all little motherf***ers. Just smash them. Say anything, I’m punching your face. Now, because of what y’all do, got to be careful.”
Going back to his potential matchup with Johnson, while O’Neal may go into the tie as the favorite, he may be far more wary than most on-lookers may realize, something Mighty Mouse could certainly use to his advantage.
So if this matchup really happened, it would likely be a very entertaining one. However, considering the size difference of the two candidates and Shaq having had both of his hips replaced, this face-off will never be sanctioned by any professional board.
