LAS VEGAS—NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal boasts four championship rings from his stellar basketball career, but there's a part of him that wishes he could have earned a championship belt, as well.
"I'm 50," O'Neal told MMA Undergound. "I wish I was 38, 39. I would fight."
O'Neal, an avid MMA fan, was introduced to the sport by chance in 1996 by future UFC champion Vitor Belfort, who was making his professional debut in Hawaii, where the Los Angeles Lakers were holding training camp.
"A guy grabs me and puts me in a waist lock," O'Neal recalled.