It seems like boxing is all the rage these days – but not because of the actual, real boxers themselves. Sure, the sweet science has some truly incredible talents currently in their prime, but the real money-makers in the sport are YouTubers and celebrities, like viral stars Jake and Logan Paul, who are making a splash by stepping into the squared circle for gimmick fights.
Jake – the one of the two who actually appears to know how to fight a little bit – sold over a million pay-per-views for his last fight. Logan did similarly crazy numbers last month for his exhibition with undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. Their success has heralded a wave of celebs cashing in through boxing matches, although the phenomenon is nothing new – we’re not too far removed from Tonya Harding on Fox’s Celebrity Boxing.
But the most underpaid athletes in professional sports, mixed martial artists, are starting to sniff some of that money, and we’re seeing more and more well-known MMA fighters express interest in cashing out in a boxing ring. Former Bellator and ONE welterweight champ Ben Askren – a great wrestler who never evolved beyond being a completely hopeless striker – caught a nice payday for getting dropped in two minutes by Jake Paul. Former UFC champion Tyron Woodley is booked for Paul’s next fight, and he’ll likely make more money for that than he did for any of his UFC title fights.
Last weekend, UFC legend Anderson Silva made his boxing debut at 46 years old, and brought joy to his legions of fans by humiliating boxing’s most odious failson, former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Even more old-timers are coming out of the woodwork – for instance, last week former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, who hasn’t fought since 2018, is planning on training for some of that sweet, sweet green.
With Dana White and the UFC continuing to refuse to pay fighters their worth, we’re likely going to see more of this as we continue on. Right now, the best retirement plan for most UFC fighters is to take a few boxing matches against YouTubers and make some easy money. With that said, who else might we see try to cash in this way? I wrote down a few names that come to mind.
The Diaz Brothers
Boxing on pay-per-view seems made for the Diaz brothers, who have earned themselves a huge number of fans through their take-no-prisoners attitude and thrilling fights. This applies to Nick more than Nate – the elder Diaz, one of the most talented welterweights of all time, hasn’t fought in the UFC since 2015, but at 37 years old still has some fight left. Although Nick has been making noises for a while now about a return to the cage, he seems to be sniffing around the idea of boxing, and longtime coach Cesar Gracie said this week that his next combat sports endeavor may be in the boxing ring.
His contract situation is vague, and as we’ve seen with the next guy on our list, the UFC hasn’t hesitated in the past to keep fighters they have rights to from cashing in on a big boxing match. But with either Diaz brother, their unique pressure stand-up style, and their ridiculous toughness, could lend them well to boxing. And while Nate is still fighting in the UFC, I could see it for him too once he’s available: his popularity seems to be peaking even higher after his fight with Leon Edwards earlier this month, and there’s no doubt he’d have a ton of buzz around him should he choose to box.
The greatest all-around mixed martial artist in the history of the sport isn’t exactly hurting for money – by all accounts, the former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion has saved and invested his winnings wisely, and he’s since embarked on an acting career that has seen him appear in a few Marvel properties. There are few types of money quite like that Marvel money.
But GSP has expressed some interest in boxing in the past, and reportedly had an agreement to box Oscar De La Hoya on pay-per-view that was blocked by the UFC, which still has him technically under contract even though he’s retired and hasn’t fought since 2017. De La Hoya is coked out of his mind and still would likely be game to do it, and if GSP can find his way out of this contractual imbroglio, he’d probably jump at the chance.
The next three fighters on the list are more speculative, but I could see it for all three of them. I think Anthony Pettis fits the bill quite well: the former UFC lightweight champion is now no longer under the auspices of the world’s biggest MMA promotion, but it’s very doubtful that he has much real success left in his cage-fighting future.
At 34 years old and with a ton of mileage, Pettis is no longer the unbelievable athlete who blew all our minds 10 years ago. And while he may like doing cartwheel kicks too much to go to a sport where they’re illegal, he’s probably not getting the big check from the PFL, not after he got battered in a unanimous decision loss to Clay Collard in his April debut. Pettis still has fans and still has a name, but he might have to leave the sport that made him famous to make some cash anytime soon.
The “Natural Born Killer” is one of the most beloved action stars of the 21st century, leaving a legacy of brutal finishes and famous wars across his nearly two decades as a pro mixed martial artist. He was a world champion in the WEC and an interim champion in the UFC, and although he came agonizingly close to taking the undisputed title from St-Pierre – I think about that head kick at least once a week – he came up short. And although the 37-year-old rebounded from a long slump with wins in his last two UFC fights, he’s more or less shot, and he’ll almost undoubtedly never climb that mountain again.
But Carlos Condit is still crazy tough, his chin is still there, and he can still give you a good fight. He’s also dabbled in other combat sports before in the past: he had a pro boxing bout in 2004 and a short pro kickboxing career, which included a clash with the legendary Andy Souwer. Condit fights Max Griffin at UFC 264 next month, and I hope he wins. But once his contract is up, he’s exactly the kind of guy I could see trying his hand at boxing.
Lastly, another guy along the same lines as Condit. Donald Cerrone is a little bit older than Condit and has a little more mileage, and he’s aged a little bit worse. After an impressively long run as one of the UFC’s top-ranked lightweights and a regular popular main-eventer, Cerrone has lost five of his last six, with the lone outlier being a no-contest.
Cerrone has faced an incredible murderer’s row of top fighters at 155 and 170 over the last decade-plus, and his time as a top guy is long over. He’s another fighter who’s dabbled in boxing in the past – he boxed professionally in 2003 and did quite well as a pro kickboxer in the mid-2000s. With little left for him to do in the UFC except lose, I’d expect “Cowboy” to at least think about cashing in on his name recognition in the boxing ring.
The Big Fight 