7 NFL Players Who Would Make the Best UFC Stars

With the UFC rapidly becoming more popular every day, what NFL players could make the crossover and become huge stars for the sport of MMA?

Football and MMA are by far my favorite sports, so when it came to finding NFL players that could succeed in the UFC, a lot of names came to mind. As you can tell, I’ve thought about this before.

You have your well-known tough guys in the NFL like Troy Polamalu, Brian Urlacher, James Harrison and Jared Allen who could possibly succeed, but you also have guys that have used MMA workouts like Marcedes Lewis that I believe could successfully make the crossover.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the UFC and the NFL possess the greatest athletes on the planet, and these are the NFL players that could make the switch to MMA successfully.

James Harrison

Hey James Harrison, you want to come to a league that will allow you to get physical with your opponents?

Harrison would accept that invitation in a heartbeat, and to be honest with you, I actually feel for the guy. What’s the defense supposed to do nowadays?

Harrison didn’t launch his shoulder and forearms into Colt McCoy last week and yet he still got suspended.

Just imagine how happy Harrison would be to get locked inside the cage with someone without having to worry about the consequences for his actions via fines. Harrison’s transition would be a smooth one.

Ray Lewis

He’s widely regarded as one of the best linebackers to ever play the game, and quite frankly, I’m itching to see him trade strikes with someone in a cage.

To be a star in the UFC, you not only need to have great skills on the feet and on the ground, but you have to be exciting. That goes for inside the octagon and outside of it.

Lewis would without a doubt bring color to the sport with his interviews leading up to the fight, and I have no doubts that he could be the next Chael Sonnen when it comes to pre-fight hype.

Lewis nearly has 2,000 career tackles, and I’d be more than willing to bet that he’d have a vicious double leg takedown. Quite frankly, when I had to make this list, Ray-Ray was the first player to pop into my mind.

Brian Cushing

In search of an NFL player that could transform into a big star for the UFC? Look no further than the guy who’s trained with UFC legend Randy Couture.

Cushing is one of the many NFL players that trains MMA in the offseason with Jay Glazer. These players train MMA in the offseason to keep them in shape, and this could be one of the benefits Cushing reaps from training with Glazer and Couture.

Cushing is a freak on the field, and I have no doubt that he could cause a stir inside the octagon for UFC president Dana White.

Clay Matthews

MMA fighters are often associated with modern day gladiators, and Clay Matthews certainly fits that role.

With muscles popping out of muscles and his long golden hair, Matthews looks like a gladiator straight out of Rome.

Anyone who’s watched Matthews play football has seen his athleticism and ferocity displayed week in and week out.

He has a knack for tracking down ball carriers and planting them into the ground, and I believe he would share the same enthusiasm when it comes to punching another man in the face inside of an eight-sided cage.

Patrick Willis

This guy is a freak. I believe Willis has the athletic ability to play any sport he chooses and succeed.

I remember watching him at Ole Miss and the hit he put on LSU’s Justin Vincent helped me come to the realization that this guy is going to be a star at the next level.

Thanks to the magnificence that is YouTube, I can show that hit off in all its glory.

Take a look at that monstrous hit. So far Willis hasn’t let me down, and he’s emerged as one of the best linebackers in the league, if not the best.

As for him throwing down in the cage, I believe he could crack a few skulls with ease.

Brian Urlacher

While Willis might be a legend in the making, Brian Urlacher has already proved to everyone that he’s one of the all-time greats at the linebacker position.

That might be the reason fans want to see him inside the octagon, but I have a different reason. A reason that not a lot fans might know about.

Urlacher was once at a charity event and bumped heads with an MMA fighter. Urlacher finally realized the man he was about to get into a fight with was Bas Rutten, and nothing happened, but I would have loved to have seen that fight.

Maybe the UFC could put on a freak-show fight between Urlacher and the retired Rutten for some unfinished business.

LaRon Landry

This is one of my all-time favorite football players to come out of LSU, and it’s not hard to see why. Through his collegiate and professional careers, Landry has delivered some vicious hits on the field.

Landry is methodical in the way he punishes wide receivers and backs, and you better believe those guys at the wideout position know where Landry is at all times.

If Landry came to the UFC, all I would have to say is fighters should be thankful soccer kicks and foot stomps are illegal, because I have no doubts Landry would be that type of fighter.

He would put on exciting wars like Wanderlei Silva vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and his popularity would be unmatched. Dana White could make a lot of money off of this guy.