Jose Canseco CRUSHED In Mixed Martial Arts Debut (PHOTOS)

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AP article, Huffington Post slideshow

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Jose Canseco came out swinging but didn't last long in his debut in mixed martial arts.

The former Oakland A's slugger was defeated by South Korean super heavyweight Hong Man Choi by a knockout just 1 minute, 17 seconds into the first round at Yokohama Arena.

The referee stopped the fight when the 7-foot-2, 330-pound Choi knocked Canseco to the mat and started punching his head.

"That's a big man," Canseco said after the fight. "I ran into one of his left jabs and that almost knocked me out. You have no idea how scary it was facing a man that big."

Canseco did land the first blow with a right to the upper body of Choi but that was all the damage he could inflict on the Korean giant.

Shortly into the fight, Canseco hurt his right knee and was unable to do much after that.

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"I hurt my knee back home real bad but I didn't want to disappoint the fans," Canseco said. "I knew that at some point during the fight my knee was going to give out and once I was down I knew I wasn't going to get up. He's just too heavy to move."

Canseco came into the arena to "Wild Thing" with a baseball bat on his shoulder. The way things turned out, he probably should have kept the bat.

He took a few swings of the bat after the fight was over and was helped out of the ring by his girlfriend, Heidi Northcott.

Canseco, who hit 462 home runs over 17 seasons in the major leagues, has had several fights inside the ring since leaving baseball but has never taken on professional fighters like Choi, who improved to 2-2 in MMA.

He boxed Danny Bonaduce, a former "Partridge Family" child star, to a draw in a celebrity match in January. The 1988 AL MVP, who named alleged steroid abusers like himself in his two books, lost to former Philadelphia Eagle Vai Sikahema in his first foray into celebrity boxing.

By his acknowledgment, the baseball outcast needs the money. It's one reason why Canseco has accepted a wide variety of offbeat jobs to make ends meet.

He said he will work on getting his knee back in shape before taking on any more fights.

"I have no idea if I'll do this again," Canseco said. "I've gotta get my knee better before I commit to anything like this."

PHOTOS:

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Comments

[ConfuciusSay-]

Hong Man Choi is one formidable opponent.
Maybe they need to consider another weight division - maybe with a 300 pound cutoff to square things up more. Canseco has guts to enter and fight in that ring.

[HST]

Maybe for once someone knocked some sense into Jose.

[MrMojoRisin]

He could have used some good ol' roid rage.

[CintiBlue]

LOL

[demrepub]

How sad. I used to go to the A's games back in the late 80s and enjoyed watching him play. I met Canseco once and he was a jerk.

[zukervati]

Rhoids will rob you blind of stamina! All the bulk, but no gas.

[truthyguy]

He should stick to barroom brawls. At least there he can pick on some guy who is half his size and totally out of shape (and drunk).

[BrianT]

Just to inform all the Canseco critics: that guy he fought is no slouch-he gave a lot of trouble to the world's toughest fighter-Fedor Emilianenko. Canseco could have been killed-Jose is a gutsy guy, no doubt about that.

[NvisibleMan]

Yeah right. Gutsy until he started tasting those lefts and rights. Sorry, I meant to say when he hurt his KNEE!!!!!

[RonGallion]

Jose Canseco acted like an old lady in baseball, when you go against the greatest, toughest fighters in the world you don't have to be a genius to figure out what would happen.

[johnnygoodwud]

the other guy looks like a korean lurch from the adams family

[roch20]

I hate watching any hunky man behave like a dummy, errrr!

[CaptD]

Talk is always cheap, but getting into the ring (any ring) and all of a sudden "it's show time" and I've been there...
+
At least in that ring there are rules, I salute our Military, they fight where there are no referees...!

[IQ]

The REAL LOSER??/....MMA!!!
They make themselves look like a sideshow each time
they promote the 'sport' with a 'has-been' from a legit sport in a
transparent attempt to attract beyond their underground devote.

Furthermore this mantra that MMA is the future because boxing is dying and MMA is the Heavyweight Champ between the two is ridiculous, lame and shows that MMA is trying too hard.
BREAKING NEWAS ALERT!!! Boxing has been dying a slow death for almost 50 years.
I am 'Gen-O' and after one of these 'BIG' PPV MMA fights there are no water cooler conversations at work, at the gym or even at the Bar. But when there is a Boxing PPV event that includes De La Hoya, Pacquiao, Mayweather, Hatton or any of the dominant Mexican fighters it's still appointment viewing and dominates the conversation for days between me, my boys and many marginal fans.

[LittleSanityLeft]

Sorry you're wrong about that. MMA is becoming huge. I'm one of the folks who've been turned onto it recently and I've watched or enjoyed boxing. Give it time and the MMA will shine as brightly as boxing ever has provided there are stars and competitors to champion it.

The problem right now is that there isn't the huge talent pool needed to make it as dynamic as it should be. Recycled fights, rivalries and "celebrity" matches will only go so far.

In five years I think some folks, like yourself, will be very surprised at how big the sport has grown over a very short time.

[Baculus]

You obviously know zero about MMA.

This weekend, with Lyoto Machida's victory in the UFC light heavyweight division, we have a brilliant Brazilian-Japanese practitioner of karate demonstrating the skill that one can have inside the Octagon. Mixed martial arts IS the future, and Machida's victory is a further demonstration of its evolution as a sport.

This Canseco fight was a "freak fight" that the Asian audience love. For example, people such as Bob Sapp, who is also a physical freak of nature, can go there and have these sideshow fights. Even top-ranked Russian fighter Fedor has fought large, monstrous opponents while he was with PRIDE, which is a Japanese organization. But, by no means, do these sort of events, meant for entertainment , a demonstration of top-flight MMA.

Otherwise, very few folks still pay attention to the "sweet science," and even fewer among the 18-40 year old crowd. This is the reason why MMA is now seen on different channels, and its gate is larger than boxing events.

It is simply the evolution of fighting -- it's obvious to anyone that follows sports and has the least bit interesting in martial competition.

[MrJM]

Look at the audience at an MMA fight and a boxing bout -- the MMA card draws young people and the boxing looks like a Korean veterans reunion. Every time an ambulance goes by it's either an MMA fan being born or a boxing fan dying.

-- MrJM

[LittleSanityLeft]

All these fighters who want to do mixed martial arts and end up going into the ring in awful shape. MMA is not the road to easy money as some of these bozos think. You had better be well trained, in the best shape of your life and you'd better be out for blood. Without those three things you'll end up looking as old, tired and pathetic as Jose Canseco.

[beauwulff]

He reminds me of Blaggo.

[irtrad17]

I defy any of you haters to take on a 7 foot 2 inch 330 pound man at the age of 43. Go on, I dare you. I don't have any love for Canseco, but that took some cojones for sure