I don't have the exact quote but I do remembered reading an interview that Foreman said he loves watching the UFC and MMA in general. He even told the interviewer that if he was coming up today he would have went into mixed martial arts instead of boxing. With Big George's obvious punching power, strength, size, athleticism, etc. it would have been an intriguing prospect. Foreman was a terrific highschool football player and perhaps that athleticism could have also served him well in grappling. Obviously, punching technique is radically diiferent in MMA than boxing where you don't have to worry about checking leg kicks or defending takedowns. Still though imagining Foreman's telephone pole like arms delivering strikes with 4 oz gloves would be something to behold.
Foreman would be interesting in MMA. He is so strong and powerful. His GnP would be scary. Hammer fists are the sort of moves in MMA that I think someone like Foreman would levitate towards.
Imagine georges ground and pound Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Oh man i would love to have seen Big george fight mma.
So let me get this right? George Foreman would have gone in MMA if he was coming up today despite the fact that the top boxers STILL earn way more money than MMA fighters today and he could more than compete as a TOP boxer in the HEAVYWEIGHT divison if he was coming up today. :good Don't be so delusional.
Big George was a mean son of a ***** back in the day. He would shove people in the ring shortly before they couldn't remember anything after that. He likes getting physical and controlling people but i guess he feels in retrospect he would have more freedom to bully people and throw them around in MMA than boxing.
He also said his knees were shaking during the ref's instructions before the first Frazier fight. I don't take all of Foreman's quotes on a literal basis. He has been prone to hyperbole a lot in the past. I do believe that Big George is probably thinking about what might have happened if he had taken up MMA instead of boxing from a competition standpoint. But he seemed to have done just fine in his sport. Two-time champ and enormous personal wealth.
I don't think George factors everything in with minute detail. George would like MMA because it's more truer to a fighting man over a thinker.
George probablly would be like a Rampage type. Big, nasty, incredibly heavy hands, brutal slams and vicious GNP and a granite chin. In other words I mean a ****ing beast. George looks like a great athlete in his prime and I bet he could pick up the wrestling game quick and with his natural strength I think he would be a tough guy to take down. George was punching the great Joe Fraizer up of the canvas with 12 oz gloves imagine what he does to lesser skiller boxers with 4 oz gloves ? Im pretty sure heads are flying into our seats.
I think the gloves were 8oz i'm pretty confident in the 70s for heavyweights. In fact I remember i'm pretty confident that I have heard they wore 7.5oz which seems odd in the Rumble in the Jungle.
Foreman in MMA is really one to think about. Big, strong, powerful but with a good chin and heart. Crazy heavy punches. Put some wrestling on him and we might have another Brock style bulldozer. I'd love to see it. Even now. Let's not forget Foreman was a street fighter. People forget that about boxers. They think they are just strikers but alot of these guys know how to scuffle. Duran says when he was younger, he was a wrestler by nature. All the movies etc had him grappling on the streets not striking.