Don King Wants in on MMA, Ready to Compete with the UFC

Legendary boxing promoter Don King has been an integral part of the history of combat sports.

The well-known personality was a force behind Rumble in the Jungle, the historic bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, as well as Thrilla in Manila, where Ali faced down Joe Frazier.

Now the 80-year-old promoter has a new frontier that he is ready to conquer: mixed martial arts.

According to USAToday.com, King expressed his interest in the sport while he was in New York for his Viva Don King telecast of the WBA cruiserweight championship bout between champion Guillermo Jones and challenger Mike Marrone.

"I'm looking forward to doing (MMA) too and creating a competition between the UFC and whatever I call the MMA company that I put together," King said.

King believes that boxing will never be overtaken by what he calls MMA, a "sophisticated barbarism," but that the sport will serve as a complement to the "sweet science."

He praised UFC President Dana White for his work and said he is ready to get into business in the sport.

King went on to say that cable TV executives with no experience in the sport are to blame for boxing's decline and not getting the fights fans want to see, namely Manny Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather.

"They know absolutely nothing about the sport," King said. "They're broadcasters. Now they've become matchmakers and managers. They're would-be promoters. But they don't put the best against the best. The only one that does out there, other than myself, is Bob Arum."

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