Shaq Threatens UFC Fighter Tito Ortiz

Anyone who is a fan of Shaquille O'Neal knows that he is a big supporter of Mixed Martial Arts, and has trained quite a bit himself. Shaq posted the above video talking smack to UFC fighter Tito Ortiz, who just got his a$$ beat by Rashad Evans at UFC 133 last Saturday night in Philadelphia. This isn't the first time Shaq has called out Tito, as he and Big Baby got on stage with Ortiz at the UFC Fan Expo in Boston last summer and joked about doing a "Shaq vs" episode where Shaq would fight Tito and Glen Davis would take on one of his training partners. Shaq even pointed out to Big Baby that Tito is a Lakers fan to heighten the (fake) animosity. Shaq and Tito will be appearing on HD Net's Inside MMA show on Friday night at 9 PM to discuss Shaq's future in MMA and Tito's recent loss.

While we probably won't be seeing Shaq (and Big Baby) in the octagon any time soon (especially because the limit for heavyweight is 265 lbs), we might very well see O'Neal get involved with the UFC from a business standpoint. On Saturday night, UFC President Dana White's stated during a post-UFC 133 interview that "Shaq wants to get involved in the business side of this thing. He's a guy we have a lot of respect for, so we'll see what happens."

However, it is always fun to think about what would happen if Shaq did decide to fight. In fact, there is currently a poll on the front page of MMAJunkie.com asking "Would you be interested in seeing a fight between 7-foot-1 NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal and 7-foot-2 MMA fighter/kickboxer Hong Man Choi?" Of course I voted yes, even though I highly doubt that Shaq's injuries would allow him do so.