Vic Darchinyan Seriously Considers Move to Mixed Martial Arts

by Scott Christ on Dec 1, 2011 9:30 AM EST in MMA

Vic Darchinyan might be nuts enough to give mixed martial arts a serious go at age 35. (Photo by Esther Lin/Showtime)

Bantamweight contender and former flyweight and super flyweight titlist Vic Darchinyan is seriously considering a move to mixed martial arts.

At yesterday's final press conference for this Saturday's bantamweight double-header on Showtime, where Darchinyan will face WBA titlist Anselmo Moreno in an attempt to win his fifth world title across three weight classes (Vic claims it will be nine, but obviously we count differently), promoter Gary Shaw made a comment about the Armenian-born, Australian-based "Raging Bull" making the shift.

"One thing about Vic Darchinyan: he fights only the best, and wants to fight only the best. He, too, has some unfinished business with Mares because of the low blows. I hope after Vic wins Saturday that fight is made again," said Shaw.

"Another possibility is that he will retire and follow in the footsteps of Kimbo Slice, and go into MMA."

There are, of course, a handful of obstacles.

First of all, Darchinyan is 35 years old and fights at 118 pounds, where he's settled in after graduating from 112 and 115. MMA's lowest weight class is 125 pounds (flyweight), and while Darchinyan says he wants to move to 126 in boxing, well, Darchinyan says a lot of things. He loves to talk. Always has. And it has served him well over the years, helping him stand out -- along with Shaw's ties at Showtime -- in weight classes that aren't often featured on U.S. television.

Plus, there's that whole thing where Darchinyan hasn't trained in mixed martial arts.

While boxing and wrestling are a couple of good bases for MMA, and Darchinyan's father was an Olympic wrestling coach, Vic's claim of having "a strong wrestling base" may not stack up well against the wrestling bases of other MMA fighters, not to mention all of the other disciplines in the sport that Darchinyan has no practice in whatsoever, as far as I know.

Shaw himself has been involved with MMA in the past, helping run the defunct EliteXC promotion, which was the first mixed martial arts outfit to make it to network TV in the States. The failure there was that Shaw misread the fanbase; yes, people tuned in to see Kimbo Slice, but it was a gimmick, pure novelty, and wound up truly appealing to neither the curious nor the hardcore fans. The boxing and MMA fanbases are very different. While boxing fans sort of accept being lied to and misled, either laughing it off or just shrugging and taking it for what it is, MMA fans largely haven't yet accepted that they're also lied to and misled pretty frequently.

Shaw put MMA behind him with the comment, "There are a lot of haters in MMA," but I'm sure he'd be willing to go back in for the chance to do something with Vic Darchinyan, a fighter he has never lost to a bigger promoter, who has never turned his back on the promoter who developed him and got him on TV. (If this sounds like I'm playing the violin for Shaw, I'm not; I just feel that his ability to get guys on TV and get them TV money is underappreciated.)

But is it really possible? Could the 35-year-old Darchinyan make a transition to MMA, or, for a better question, would he be able to make a successful transition?

No doubt he could knock some guys out if he gets to them. And maybe his wrestling is better than we'd expect.

If any top-level fighter in boxing is crazy, fearless, and confident enough to do it, it might be Vic Darchinyan.

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He would be doing something he’s less adept at for less money. It makes no sense.

by Duan on Dec 1, 2011 9:58 AM EST reply actions

Dunno how believable this is, I’m not sure Vic is washed up enough to go swimming in mma waters. The UFC doesn’t even have a 125 lb division, so he’ll make peanuts outside the UFC. If he did move up to 135, he’d be giving up a ton of size, and on the off-chance the UFC signs him, he’d probably still be making significantly less. Who knows, maybe the UFC can bring him in, market the heck out of him for a fight to feature the 135lb division that they’re having trouble getting traction with.

by toodiesel on Dec 1, 2011 10:10 AM EST reply actions

I just dont think hes a big enough star to get a shot in the big leagues ie; UFC or Bellator. Dunno if he’d be contempt with fighting on small indy shows when he can box for more money….

Plus, boxers inevitably get found out against wrestlers too.

by Shitali Klitschko on Dec 1, 2011 10:10 AM EST via mobile reply actions

Basically, everything that was said here already.

There’s no “big” promotion that promotes 125 pounders that means there’s nowhere for him to make money. And he’s not a big enough name that even when the UFC brings in 125 (which they plan on doing eventually) that he wouldn’t have to “prove it” on the smaller scene. So you’re talking about MAYBE making $10k a fight for a few years. In what world does that make sense?

Even with a “wrestling background” like they talk about, it’s not like he’s been wrestling any time in recent memory, plus wrestling in MMA is a different animal that takes time to learn. Much as it takes different footwork than boxing, it takes different stances, footwork and angling than wrestling.

It’s not exactly a good idea for a 35 year old to try to unlearn a lifetime of how he fights, learn a new kind of way to do something he probably hasn’t done in close to 20 years (wrestle) and do it all for less money.

Managing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Dec 1, 2011 10:23 AM EST reply actions

“Another possibility is that he will retire and follow in the footsteps of Kimbo Slice, and go into MMA.”

He’s going to have four overhyped fights, go to the UFC, go 1-1, washout, and become the go-to reference for being more sizzle than steak?

That’s good promoting!

Most people don't know shit about boxing. At all. Period. - Roger Mayweather

Show be tell. - Ann Wolfe

by The Kittitas Kid on Dec 1, 2011 11:39 AM EST reply actions

I confess that the line “following in the footsteps of Kimbo Slice” made me chuckle.

Seriously, I think that Darchinyan would face several years of very tough training to even begin to function effectively in MMA, so this to me has an undertone of some kind of desperation.

by DrRck on Dec 1, 2011 11:53 AM EST reply actions

MMA seems to have taken the place

of acting

for fighters who are being phased out of their careers.

by Don From Prov on Dec 1, 2011 1:30 PM EST reply actions

I think that you have a good point. MMA certainly seems to be where some fighters threaten to take their ball when they go home; I wonder, though, if these boxers really understand what they’re saying.

by DrRck on Dec 1, 2011 7:00 PM EST up reply actions