Bellator MMA's Mike Richman Earns Second Professional Boxing Win in Minnesota

Recent Bellator MMA debut fighter Mike Richman is not just one of the baddest dudes in the world when he steps into the cage, but he might also be developing into a future star in the boxing ring.

Richman won a four-round decision over Jason Benson at RDS Boxing: Night of Champions at the Hyatt in Minneapolis, MN on June 16, 2012. It was the second fight of “The Marine’s” professional boxing career and the one-sided dominance he displayed proved that at least some MMA fighters are capable of competing with and even defeating boxers at their own game.

“I’ve always kind of wanted to be in boxing. As a kid, I was a big fan,” Richman told Bleacher Report MMA. “But growing up in the suburbs [of the Twin Cities] there weren’t many boxing gyms. Then I ended up getting into mixed martial arts and that made it kind of an easy door for me to walk through as far as getting licensed to box. I always knew I had the ability to box.”

Though he admits that MMA is his true combative sports love, Richman isn’t planning on walking away from boxing even as his MMA career is growing exponentially in recent months.

“As long as Bellator lets me, I will continue to do it,” he said. “I had to ask permission from them to do this boxing match. I need permission every time, so they can turn it down if they don’t want me to do a boxing match.”

With Bellator’s odd scheduling, fighters on their roster often times have long breaks between fights. Richman believes this played a part in their allowing him to compete in another sport.

“I think they were just open to it because it was pretty far out from my next fight,” he said.

With his standup skills always ever-improving, Richman is becoming a very difficult opponent for anyone. He gains confidence with every win.

A victory in the upcoming Bellator tournament could make him a national name in MMA.