Yahoo Sports published an open thread on Thursday, October 29, 2026, asking readers which professional athlete they would like to see compete in mixed martial arts. The discussion prompt was posted by Tim Edwards at 1:05 PM UTC.
The article featured a photograph from April 13, 2019, showing UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier shaking hands with former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal during the UFC 236 event at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The image, captured by Carmen Mandato for Zuffa LLC via Getty Images, illustrated the crossover appeal between combat sports and other professional athletics.
The open thread invited fans to speculate on which current or former professional athletes from any sport could transition successfully to MMA competition.
