Before an MMA fight, getting the fundamentals right becomes absolutely crucial. But former Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley seems to be struggling with them just a day before his debut fight against fellow NBA player and former Pacers guard Lance Stephenson. The 37-year-old is all set to make his first MMA walk on May 23 under Adin Ross’ Brand Risk Promotion at UFC Apex, and ahead of the bout, his training video from the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas has already gone viral.

At the UFC PI, Michael Beasley trained with a few Xtreme Couture team members. Then, he met Paddy Pimblett’s former opponent, Jordan Leavitt, and others who helped teach him some basic chokes and ways to defend against them. One of the fundamental techniques was the rear-naked choke, which the 6’9” former Laker initially struggled with.

After Leavitt instructed him and made a few adjustments, Beasley finally locked in the choke and looked genuinely surprised by the result. He even tapped out the UFC fighter multiple times before asking whether his opponent would die if he actually got them in the choke. Leavitt quickly clarified that they would not, explaining that the referee would wave off the fight long before something like that could happen.

Beasley once had a solid basketball career, playing 11 seasons in the NBA across seven different franchises. The basketball player-turned-MMA fighter started his journey with the Miami Heat in 2008. Though Beasley never officially retired, he effectively wrapped up his NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2018-19 season and did not return for another season.

So, for a prominent former NBA player like him, learning mixed martial arts from scratch is understandably a challenging task. However, MMA fans had a completely different viewpoint.

After watching the NBA player’s training footage, many fans heavily criticized him for struggling to lock in the choke properly just a day before fight night, and they certainly did not hold back their criticism.

Fans tear into former Laker Michael Beasley ahead of his MMA debut

One fan quickly chimed in and wrote, “Learned how to do the easiest submission just today, and is fighting this weekend? Clown show, just box man.” That was followed by another user commenting, “From the NBA to the cage in one weekend. Brand Risk fights are never boring.”

Well, Michael Beasley has been going through some intense training at his Miami-based gym for the fight against Lance Stephenson, but most of the footage so far has shown him practicing his striking. For a beginner, learning how to throw strikes is usually much easier compared to mastering different chokeholds and ground positions.

To be fair, the rear-naked choke is definitely one of the easier submissions to learn. But applying it effectively against a resisting opponent is a completely different challenge, something Beasley may have realized only after Jordan Leavitt corrected his technique.

Still, fans were stunned that the former Los Angeles Laker was struggling with such a fundamental and simplistic choke that too a couple of days before his fight.

“Homie just learning a basic choke but got a debut fight tomorrow????? The whole card bout to be a train wreck nd ima enjoy every min of it 😂,” one fan wrote after watching the training clip. Another user added, “he looked genuinely shocked like he didnt know choking was a thing.”

The fans didn’t just believe that Michael Beasley’s training session went horribly wrong. Some even went as far as predicting that his opponent would comfortably win the fight based on that clip alone. 

One fan bluntly wrote, “Lance gonna beat the dog s—t outta him 😂.” To be fair, Stephenson will also be making his debut under Adin Ross’ promotion and is currently going through his own specialized training camp for the matchup against Beasley.

While it’s true that Michael Beasley’s chokehold training lacked finesse, heading into the fight, even a small technical adjustment can completely change the outcome if he manages to execute it properly against his opponent.