Shaquille O’Neal, the American basketball veteran who is 7 ft 1 inch, revealed the strongest guy he has ever wrestled in his life. ‘Shaq’, being a widely known MMA enthusiast, has made several appearances at UFC events besides the cages, getting himself fully immersed in the fights.

Being a 4-time NBA champion with 19 years of excellence in the sports, he credits his success to Mixed Martial Arts.

In an interview with ESPN MMA with Journalist Ariel Helwani, ‘Shaq’ mentioned his toughest wrestler,

“Greg Hardy is the strongest guy I’ve ever wrestled in my life. Nice kid, strong taught me a lot. If we got into it, it will probably be a long day for me. He is physical, he likes to fight just like me, he likes to bag. He actually taught me to a lot.”

American Football player turned UFC heavyweight contender Greg Hardy and ‘O Neal had been training initially. Where the basketball legend has witnessed Greg Hardy’s brute strength.

However, “Prince of War” has been removed from the UFC as he received a no-contest result against Ben Sosoli in 2019 for using an inhaler during the bout and he had issues with weigh-ins. Following that, he suffered three consecutive knockout losses in the heavyweight division.

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‘Shaq’ in the interview remarked that “MMA athletes are probably the best athletes on the planet“.The respect that veteran basketball players have for mixed martial arts is simply astounding. Most athletes are enthusiastic about their own sports, not about other sports.

Shaquille O’Neal says, “MMA is the reason I became a champion”

Shaq would like to practice MMA over and over. He trains with the best athletes, including the current heavyweight champion, ‘Francis Ngannou‘.

Everyone was excited to see him in an MMA bout whenever he trained. O’Neal eventually called out the South Korean pro-fighter, Hong-man Choi, once. Choi stands 7 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 353 pounds. The match, however, did not take place.

Shaq, in the interview, said,” I wanted Dana to come back and set it up, but nobody ever did.”

He shares a good bond with UFC president Dana White. Both have made several appearances together, discussing their favorite FC fighters and sharing their enthusiasm for the game.

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‘Shaq’ wrestled with Greg Hardy in his initial MMA days. Now he trains with the world’s best heavyweights. Do you think if O’Neal fought Hardy in a future MMA bout, he might still feel the same about him? Let us know in the comments below.