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LAS VEGAS—NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal boasts four championship rings from his stellar basketball career, but there's a part of him that wishes he could have earned a championship belt, as well.
"I'm 50," O'Neal told MMA Undergound. "I wish I was 38, 39. I would fight."
O'Neal, an avid MMA fan, was introduced to the sport by chance in 1996 by future UFC champion Vitor Belfort, who was making his professional debut in Hawaii, where the Los Angeles Lakers were holding training camp.
"A guy grabs me and puts me in a waist lock," O'Neal recalled. "I'm getting ready to turn around and beat him up. He goes, 'No, no, no, no, no.' It's Vitor Belfort. He says, 'No, no, no. I just love you. I'm a fan of yours.' I'm like, 'Yo, man, what are you doing?' He gives me two tickets, and says, 'I've got a fight tonight.'
"We went to this event, and Vitor beat some big old dude. He beat that dude in like 15 seconds. I'm like, 'What kind of sport is this?' And I've been a fan since."
O'Neal has since developed friendships with UFC president Dana White, as well as former UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta. He even once invited the promotion to host a press conference in his Orlando estate in 2014.
