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As we reported on early Saturday morning with an assist from Bloody Elbow's Chris Nelson, Ricardo Mayorga is heading into the MMA world with the Shine Fights promotion. MMA Mania says it's good to go.
As for how Mayorga might fare in the MMA world, let's get the obvious out of the way:
- He has no ground game, and if you asked me to bet, Mayorga is probably not going to try and learn anything new any time soon. The ground game factor is huge, obviously, but...
- If someone stands and trades with him, they're in trouble. Mayorga is very strong, has a phenomenal chin, and fights like a maniac. The smaller gloves are to his advantage, which is just as obvious as the lack of anything besides boxing being a problem for him.
No disrespect whatsoever to Shine Fights (and I doubt anyone in the promotion would mind me saying this), but it's not exactly UFC. Mayorga isn't going to go out there and fight BJ Penn or Georges St. Pierre or anything like that. A guy like Mayorga trying to get into MMA lives and dies on the puncher's chance, which Ray Mercer used to knock the crap out of Tim Sylvia. Those that want to discount Mayorga's chances at doing the same exact thing are welcome to do so and do the "well-rounded skills" thing -- which everyone understands, believe me -- but punches still count and Mayorga can really swing those hands.
Given the level of competition he's likely to fight, he's got a 50/50 shot or better.
But wait, there's more!
To be quite blunt, Mayorga is a notorious punk. The February bout with Alfredo Angulo that he backed out of was not his first offense. He also tried to hold up Don King and Golden Boy for more money last-minute when he fought Oscar de la Hoya. And he badly needs money right now, as he's currently attempting to sue King with what seems like somewhat flimsy reasoning and has had some legal troubles in Nicaragua in the recent past. He hasn't fought since September 2008.
If (when?) Mayorga backs out of this and never fights with the folks at Shine, do not be surprised, and try to keep yourself from questioning his guts. He's not a guy lacking in fortitude once the bell rings, he's just a professional jerk.