The Worst Ever Celebrity Star Signings In Mixed Martial Arts

There is no doubt about it, when a star from a different industry or background signs for an MMA promotion, it brings eyes to the sport which would have never otherwise looked. So from a financial perspective, bringing in someone who has fame on the internet, a different combat sport, or even a TV show is excellent business.

However, things don’t always go to plan and despite being given easy debut matchups, it can be a humiliating experience for both the new fighter and the promotion that signed them. This isn’t always the case, but it can be difficult for an athlete from a different sport to get anywhere near the standard of someone who has been training various martial arts for their entire life.

Not only this but due to the brutal nature of mixed martial arts, celebrities who sign up for a promotion in hope of a quick payday can get more than they bargained for in terms of injuries and humiliation from a very quick and easy loss.

The Worst Ever Stars Signed By MMA Promotions

Dada 5000

In a pre-manufactured beef with Kimbo Slice, Dada 5000 would fight against him at Bellator 149 in what can only be described as one of the worst and most dangerous fights MMA has ever seen.

Prior to the fight, Dada 5000 had a similar story to Kimbo Slice which was pretty much based around coming up through the ranks of street fighting, but having some kind of fallout with the manager of Slice. It’s not even documented that the two ever met, but stories sell tickets, so this is what Bellator ran with.

Both men were completely exhausted due to the amount of weight that they cut pre-fight. In comparison to their street fighting videos, both men looked a shadow of their former selves and could have easily been knocked out by a flyweight.

In the end, Dada 5000 collapsed on the mat and almost died.

Sean Gannon

A man whose signing was based around the story of him being a cop from Boston who beat Kimbo Slice in a street fight. Granted, nobody else had managed to do this on film, but parlaying this into a UFC contract seems to stretch this achievement. When Gannon was signed to this contract, he had a 2-1 record in low level promotions, so could clearly fight, but not at an elite level.

This story is pretty much a summary of what any MMA promotion will do in order to get eyes on their event. Whilst Gannon certainly isn’t a household name, if it didn’t make financial sense to sign him, then it wouldn’t have happened.

For some reason, Gannon was put straight into the co-main event, swiftly taken down, and finished inside the first round via ground and pound. Unsurprisingly, there was never a 2nd UFC fight.

Ken Kaneko

Not too well known in the west, Ken Kaneko is a Japanese actor and general TV personality. It makes sense then that both PRIDE and K-1 jumped at the chance to sign him when he expressed an interest in mixed martial arts.

Japanese matchmaking is strange at best as Kaneko was matched up against veterans Krazy Horse and Hideo Tokoro for his first two fights. It goes without saying that when a TV personality gets into the ring against guys who have had more pro fights than he has made movies, it is going to be over pretty quickly.

Kaneko was not a complete joke in MMA, but his matches made him look even worse than he actually was.

Johnnie Morton

A world class athlete, Johnnie Morton was a ride receiver in the NFL for 12 seasons playing almost every game during this time.

In his one professional fight at K-1 dynamite, Morton had just about everything go wrong for him that could possibly happen. Bearing in mind his opponent Bernard Ackah had a career record of 5-6, he was not exactly up against elite opposition.

Either way, Morton tried to blitz Ackah which failed miserably. He was then promptly knocked out by the first strike his opponent threw and subsequently later tested positive for anabolic steroids. Overall, not a good debut.

Steve Williams

Steve Williams aka Doctor Death was primarily a WWE wrestler. Williams did however have a lot of college wrestling experience and was a fantastic athlete. However, when matched against K1 champion Alexey Ignashov, it was clear that there was a gigantic striking discrepancy.

As Doctor Death was somewhat of a household name within the Japanese pro-wrestling scene, the promotion decided to sign him, despite having no real martial arts experience. Things did not go well for Williams who was almost immediately floored with a barrage of kicks and knees, with the referee calling a stop to the contest within 25 seconds.

Bam Bam Bigelow

Part of the hugely optimistic U-Japan promotion. This event was actually ahead of its time, featuring a women’s match, a cage rather than a ring as well as top American fighters such as Dan Severn.

Baring in mind this was 1996, U-Japan thought it would be a good idea to hire WWE superstar Bam Bam Bigelow and pay him $100k to fight against Kimo Leopoldo in the main event. The promotion spent a lot more money than it returned and would not ever feature again, with Bam Bam Bigelow getting absolutely destroyed against a fighter who beat Sakuraba within 5 minutes.

Yuji Nagata

Yet another example of crazy Japanese matchmaking. Yuji Nagata is a professional wrestler with an extreme level of popularity in Japan. So much so that he has wrestled from 1992 until modern day. A heavyweight, it would be difficult to make western comparisons with, but there is no doubt Nagata is a fan favorite and certainly draws a lot of eyes wherever he fights.

Strangely, Nagata was given matches against Mirko Crocop and Fedor Emelianenko, despite never having competed in MMA before. This is nothing short of a death sentence and pretty much no fighter in the existence of the sport would be able to defeat either of these fighters in their first two professional fights. Nagata likely wouldn’t have fared well against other opponents, but he could have at least been given a chance of winning.

CM Punk

One of the more recent celebrities to get signed by an elite promotion. CM Punk was given 2 fights by the UFC for being a celebrity athlete that had an interest and vague background in martial arts.

Perhaps the most shocking thing about the debut of CM Punk was his lack of athleticism. For a professional wrestler, his movement was not good at all and his age, lack of technique, and movement was all far worse than anyone thought it would be.

Nobody really expected CM Punk to win either of his two fights, but it was surprising to see just how badly he fared. Mickey Gall made light work of Punk and showed mercy on him, tapping him rather quickly instead of raining down punches. In his second fight, he was matched up against a journeyman fighter signed specifically to even the playing field. But even this was too much for Punk who got completely battered once again and lost a unanimous 30-26 on all three scorecards.

Jose Canseco

Yes, you’re reading this right. Jose Canseco had a professional MMA fight, which might not even make the list of the top 10 strangest things he’s done in his life. The former MLB player was an outstanding athlete and set records for the number of home runs alongside bases stolen, before throwing everyone under the bus in a book about steroid use in baseball.

Strange fights aren’t too uncommon in Japan, so it wasn’t too surprising to see Hong Man Choi in the opposite corner to Canseco at Dream 9.

If you weren’t convinced that Canseco could fight, it took around 5 seconds to prove yourself correct. His strategy involved throwing haymakers with his head down and then running away when they missed. This worked for around 45 seconds until he found himself on the canvas being punched in the head by Choi, at which point he tapped to the strikes and never fought in MMA again.

James Toney

An accomplished boxer in his own right, James Toney is certainly not the greatest of all time but held several belts during his long career.

In a Japanese style mismatch, Toney was put up against Randy Couture, despite never having fought MMA and being 42 years old. Needless to say, Couture took Toney down within 30 seconds and finished him with an arm triangle inside the first round. Toney never fought again after this terrible mismatch.

The only consolation was likely that the UFC was able to bring in new fans from boxing who had never watched the sport before.