Herschel Walker won a Heisman Trophy, went to two Pro Bowls and played 12 NFL seasons with the Cowboys, Vikings, Eagles and Giants. But he says he never would have had a football career if the sport of mixed martial arts had existed in his youth.
Walker will have his first professional MMA fight on January 30 in Miami, and he says he loves MMA so much that when he was asked by Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com whether he would have gone into MMA as a child if the option had been available to him, he said he absolutely would have.
“There’s no doubt,” Walker said. “If MMA was around when I was just getting into football I think I would have gone into MMA.”
Walker is facing an inexperienced opponent named Greg Nagy, and he says he’s realistic about how successful he can be as a 47-year-old who’s new to the sport.
“I know I’m not going to be a world champion,” Walker said. “But I have the opportunity to fight and do something I love to do.”
Walker referrred to former NFL wide receiver Johnnie Morton as “an embarrassment to the sport” for trying MMA and getting knocked out in the first round of his first and only fight. Walker says he’s taking MMA much more seriously than other ex-athletes who have given fighting a try.
“I want to make this sport look good,” Walker said. “I’m not here for a circus act, here for a paycheck, I’m here because I love this sport.”
