5 Athletes You Never Knew Were MMA Fighters

By Jay Anderson /

2. Jose Canseco

It's a miracle former Major League Baseball MVP Jose Canseco ever passed the drug test for his lone MMA fight. Canseco, the American League rookie of the year, two-time World Series champion, AL MVP in 1988, and six time All-Star, was known more for steroid use later in his career than his feats on the field. A dangerous hitter earlier in his career, his admission of drug use and accusations against other players (some of which he published in his autobiography) forever damaged his image. In the aftermath, Canseco seemed to go to great lengths to remain in the public eye. He appeared on reality TV shows, made some other television appearances, then tried to get into fighting. In 2008, he was knocked out in a boxing match against the much smaller Vai Sikahema, a broadcaster and former NFL player. Canseco, who claimed to have black belts in several disciplines, then jumped to MMA, where he fought Hong-man Choi at Dream 9 in 2009 after submitting to strikes. Canseco's MMA career was at the point one-and-done. There was some talk of a fight with Shaq (which likely would not have gone well for Canseco), however it never came to fruition, and in 2014 while cleaning his gun, he shot himself in the hand and lost his middle left finger, as well as partial use of the hand, meaning his MMA days are done.