Don King makes his way into MMA - WTF?!

Damn, now Don King wants to fu*k up MMA like he did to boxing with his crooked business practices??? Maybe this will make the boxing pricks who talk down about MMA happy.


By Kevin Iole

His stable nearly barren of world-class boxers, his once-massive staff shrunken dramatically and his luxurious Florida mansion on the market, 77-year-old promoter Don King may seem like he's about to leave the public eye.

If you believe that, though, you don't know King.

King was on his way to Manchester, England, on Tuesday to promote a bout between Marco Antonio Barrera and Amir Khan on Saturday at the Manchester Evening News Arena.

But his even bigger news is that he's planning to enter the world of mixed martial arts.

King said he'd lay out his involvement in a group put together by Ross Mandell, whom King said was in Israel, in a few weeks.

He confirmed, though, that he would begin promoting MMA fights and said he couldn't conceive of failing. Though nearly every challenger to the industry-leading Ultimate Fighting Championship has failed, King said there's plenty of room for both to succeed.

Lorenzo Fertitta used to be one of our commissioners in the great state of Nevada (as part of the Nevada Athletic Commission) and I'm not surprised by the phenomenal, truly outstanding job he has done," King said. "Lorenzo and Dana White deserve nothing but kudos for bringing this sport to unparalleled heights. But it's their dominance that will make what we're doing very unique."

King had a dalliance with MMA previously when Ross Goodman, the son of Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman, asked him to become a partner in the World Fighting Alliance. King had many talks and even discussed a contract with Tito Ortiz, but ultimately did not buy into the deal.

He wasn't forthcoming with many details, but praised the sport and said boxing evolved from MMA and not the other way around.

"This is going back to the origins of fighting," King said. "MMA is nothing new, just sophisticated barbarism. This is where the Marquess of Queensbury came in and put up some rules and brought us the great sport of boxing we know and love today. And just like the Marquess of Queensbury refined and developed boxing, that's what Lorenzo and Dana have done with MMA."

"It used to be no-holds barred, a pier-six brawl. But they've truly done wonders and the public loves it now."

King spoke of a burgeoning friendship with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and hinted that Slim may be part of the MMA promotion. Slim is reportedly the world's second-richest man. In 2008, Forbes ranked Slim behind Warren Buffet and slightly ahead of Bill Gates as the world's richest men.
The promoter said he'd speak more on the matter when he returned from the U.K. and his partners were ready to explain the deal.

"This is going to be something that is quite unique and is going to have a great impact on the sport," King said.