The sport of mixed martial arts has gained a lot of fame in recent times. Much of the credit goes to Dana White and his Ultimate Fighting Championship. The MMA organization has taken the sport to global prominence and turned several of their stars into household names, such as Conor McGregor and Brock Lesnar just to name a few. The latter was already a known name when he walked into the UFC. However, his exploits in the shoot fighting promotion helped him become an even bigger star, so much so that NBA legend Karl Malone wanted a piece of him.
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Brock Lesnar had already proven his athletic abilities in the WWE, where he was the youngest WWE Champion ever. All eyes were on him when he began his MMA journey, and the Beast did not disappoint. He eventually returned to the WWE, but not before becoming the UFC Heavyweight Champion.
With his stocks at an all-time high, Lesnar received a lot of unexpected challengers, but none was more surprising than Utah Jazz legend Malone’s call-out.
Karl Malone, who wanted to fight Kobe Bryant, once called out Brock Lesnar
It is not uncommon for celebrities to come in for a one off in wrestling. The main event of the first-ever WrestleMania featured Mr. T.
Malone himself has wrestled on live television before. He was in the main event of WCW’s Bash at the beach 1998, where he partnered Diamond Dallas Page against Hulk Hogan and fellow NBA star Dennis Rodman.
During a pre-game show in 2015, Malone expressed his desire to wrestle again, but this time for the WWE. The 14-time NBA All-Star challenged none other than the Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar and stated that he was waiting for a call from the WWE management. However, nothing came of it and so far, there has been no further interactions between the two.
But this was not the only time ‘The Mailman’ wanted to go one on one with a famous athlete. Malone is notorious in the NBA community for his controversies and antics outside the court.
He once infamously had a verbal altercation with Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.
‘The Mailman,’ according to reports, flirted with Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant. This didn’t go well with Bryant, who expressed his disgust towards his former teammate. It was then that Malone, in an interview, stated that he could fight Bryant if he was still mad about the flirting incident.
Brock Lesnar in UFC
‘The Beast’ had a very short stint in mixed martial arts and even the UFC. He holds a professional MMA record of 5-3 under his name. Three of his wins have come via a knockout.
Lesnar fought in K1 before making his UFC debut in 2008. He lost his first fight, but he quickly bounced back to become the UFC heavyweight champion by defeating Randy Couture in the same year.
Lesnar departed from the promotion in 2016. But even with a short run in the UFC, he is considered one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Following that, Lesnar found even more success in the WWE.
What are your thoughts about Lesnar’s UFC run? What do you guys think about Malone’s call-out to Lesnar?
