5 Cricketers who could've been MMA fighters

#3 Mitchell Johnson

Mitchell Johnson has unbelievable bowling speeds

One of the most desirable qualities in an MMA combatant is speed, with fighters such as Demetrius ‘Might Mouse’ Johnson, Tyron Woodley, Valentina Shevchenko and several others dominating their opponents by always being one step ahead.

As the saying goes, in the fight game, Speed Kills! Now when you couple that attribute with trash-talking abilities and mental warfare, you have a nigh-unstoppable MMA fighter on your hands.

When you talk about speed in cricket you think about players such as Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall, Dale Steyn etc. One name conspicuously missing from the aforementioned list, however, is 6’2” Aussie fireball Mitchell Johnson.

Now before you cricket-maniacs jump on me, be rest assured that I am well aware of the fact that Johnson has always been one of the most inconsistent speedsters for the Aussies. Regardless, just hear me out.

Mitchell Johnson has been one of Australia’s greatest bowlers and has taken over 500 wickets in International cricket. A gifted athlete, Johnson has helped the Australian Cricket team put up several comebacks with both the bat and the ball and has proven himself as a highly tenacious opponent on the pitch.

Clocking speeds north of 150 km/h time-and-again, his fastest ball came against England in 2013 at 156.8 km/h. Combine that kind of speed with his mind games and you have an intimidating foe on the field.

Johnson’s speed would carry over perfectly into MMA, and his excellence in getting into the minds of his opponents would serve him well, were he to make a transition into the sport. Maybe a training session with Kiwi Heavyweight legend Mark Hunt is in the near future for the Aussie cricketer.

That brings us to the rebels of world cricket...