MMA Fighters who Play Golf

Due to the nature of the two games, MMA and golf will never make a perfect marriage. It didn’t help that the outspoken former UFC fighter Jason “Mayhem” Miller had this thing to say about the organization he used to work for:

“You keep thinking the UFC is real. It’s not. It’s governed by one petty, insecure, chunky golf player.”

Whether or not it made Dana White’s butt shake and what happened after being none of my concern. But I got interested to write this article after seeing Urijah Faber, Mark Munoz, and Chael Sonen play golf on TV. It was for a charity tournament Faber organized. At one point it showed another fighter play with a golf cart cover as the three continue to banter.

Another charity golf tournament that got my attention was the one organized by Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and it featured the organization’s best fighters. Here are three of my favorites who were part of that tournament, headlining my list of MMA fighters who play golf.

Daniel Cormier

Image Credit: www.mirror.co.uk

When this former Olympic wrestler signed with the UFC, I already knew he was gonna make it big. “DC” is a former Strikeforce Grand Prix heavyweight champion and currently, the UFC ranks him as the no. 2 contender. The chances of him facing teammate and good friend Cain Velasquez may be out of the picture though, as he prefers to step down the light heavyweight division and fight Jon Jones instead. Still a matchup for the ages, no complaints.

Gilbert Melendez

Image Credit: www.therichest.com

A two-time Strikeforce lightweight champion, Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez is another Strikeforce graduate who has been raking success in the UFC. He is, in my opinion an uncrowned champion after decisively beating (again, in my opinion) Benson Henderson in their UFC on Fox encounter, and that’s before Anthony Pettis took the title away from Henderson. Gilbert’s most recent fight with Diego Sanchez proved he isn’t one to get emotionally swayed as he stood toe to toe with Sanchez en route to a unanimous decision victory. Currently, he is ranked no. 3 in the division and is once again at the doorstep of another title shot.

Cain Velasquez

Image Credit: www1.skysports.com

The American Top Team’s top dog is of course the present UFC heavyweight champion. The things he does in the cage against the world’s top heavyweights has been nothing short of spectacular. The trilogy he had with Junior Dos Santos was one of the best the world has ever seen, and on two occasions he gave Dos Santos the biggest beating anyone has ever dealt with someone inside the octagon. Although no formal announcement has been made yet, Fabricio Werdum looms to be the next opponent for Velasquez. Now, as long as Cain keeps the fight standing, I am perfectly sure he will retain his belt.

Pacquiao and Day Lift Country Up

For future boxing Hall of Famer Manny Pacquiao and golf rising star Jason Day, their most recent outings were nothing close to ordinary. Theirs was a special moment much desired by a nation hungry for inspiration.

 

Jason Day is an Australian-Filipino who traces his roots to Leyte, Philippines, the province most devastated by the typhoon Haiyan. The fate suffered by Day’s family in the Philippines was well-publicized, as eight family members, including his grandmother perished at the height of the storm surge. That said, it’s no secret what the 26-year-old native of Queensland, Australia had in mind going into the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf. Obviously, a lot was going on inside his head. This fired him up even more as he went on to win the said tournament at Royal Melbourne, bringing hope to his seemingly downtrodden loved ones back in the Philippines. Not since 2010 did Day last won a professional outing, so this made it doubly sweet for him. Those days of shelving his golf cart cover to be on the course for practice surely paid off.

Win or lose, Manny Pacquiao dedicated his fight to his countrymen especially those in areas most ravaged by the typhoon. The devastation has since left almost 6,000 people dead, and even more injured and missing. Apparently this fueled the fire of the fighter many consider to have lost luster because of his rather dismal performances in previous fights. But the native of General Santos City was bent on displaying his old form, which he successfully did to the cheers of an entire country.

 

In the fight held in Macau, Pacquiao won almost every round in the eyes of the judges. There was even one who awarded him every round. Visibly wary of the speed and footwork of Manny, Mexican-American Brandon Rios wasn’t as aggressive as he was in his previous fights. The usually forceful Rios failed to impose his will on his opponent and became a virtual punching bag in the entirety of the fight, making for a one-sided victory for Manny. Pacquiao promised to continue helping the typhoon victims once he gets back to the Philippines.

Typhoon Haiyan is said to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest typhoon that ever hit the Philippines. The damage was so wide experts say it’s gonna take twenty years to completely rebuild the affected areas. An important sector to start this rebuilding is the people. With their feats, Manny Pacquiao and Jason Day surely put them in the right direction.