10 Current UFC Stars Who Fought In Boxing
How would a UFC star fare in the boxing ring?
That’s the question everybody seems to be debating in the build-up to Conor McGregor’s blockbuster fight with Floyd Mayweather on August 26th, but it’s worth keeping in mind that ‘The Notorious’ is far from the first UFC fighter to have fought in the squared circle.
In all fairness, the circumstances surrounding McGregor Vs Mayweather are unique. We’ve never seen anything of this magnitude before – a UFC champion at the peak of their career head to the boxing ring, let alone agreeing to face one of that sport’s all-time greats.
Nevertheless, there are a number of fighters currently fighting in the UFC who do have professional boxing bouts on their records, often from much earlier in their career’s, and in this article, we’ll take a closer look at how they did – from the good and the bad through the downright ugly.
Anderson Silva
One of MMA’s all-time greats, Anderson Silva has also tested his skills in the boxing ring twice during his combat sports career.
His pro boxing debut took place in his native Brazil all the way back in 1998 when he was just 23 years old. At the time he was only just getting started in his MMA career too, with both of his wins at the time having come during a single-night tournament a year earlier.
Despite his lack of experience, Silva was handed a tough first outing against Osmar Luiz Teixeira, a cruiserweight (200 pounds) who held an 8-2 boxing record and had finished six of his fights inside the distance.
No video or photographs exist of the fight, but officially it was recorded as a victory for Teixeira due to Silva retiring after the second round, allegedly due to body shots.
After a two year absence, Silva returned to MMA, and by 2005 had amassed a 15-3 record, but after surpisingly being released by the PRIDE organization, he briefly opted to return to the boxing ring.
This time he faced Julio Cesar de Jesus, a newcomer who would prove to be no match for Silva’s by-now seasoned striking and was finished with punches to the body and head in the second round.
It wasn’t long before Silva signed for the UFC and he would go on to achieve superstardom as their long-reigning middleweight champion, but over the years he’s also harbored an ambition to fight legendary boxer Roy Jones Jr in the ring.
However, despite both indicating their interest in the match-up, this particular super fight has never come to fruition. 
Vitor Belfort
Vitor Belfort’s sole appearance in the boxing ring took place back in 2006, by which stage he’d already compiled a 13-6 record in mixed martial arts, fighting for the likes of the UFC and PRIDE.
‘The Phenom’ has always been known as a dangerous striker and he showcased that in the ring against Jose Mario Neves, another fighter making his professional boxing debut, by flooring him with flurries of punches twice in the space of 61 seconds to earn a KO victory.
In 2008, Belfort indicated his interest in getting back into the ring and was believed to be pursuing talks with Golden Boy promotions, but nothing came of it and he re-signed with the UFC a year later. 
Nick Diaz
Both of the Diaz brothers have shown an interest in boxing over the years, and they’ve regularly sparred with several high-level boxing professionals, including the man considered by Ring magazine to be the current No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, Andre Ward.
”I’m a world-class fighter and they do more than hold their own,” Ward said of the two UFC stars in an interview with FOX Sports in 2016.
Nick, the older of the two brothers, actually does have a professional boxing bout at super-middleweight (168 pounds) under his belt, having won a four-round unanimous decision over Alfonso Rocha in Sacremento back in 2005, while he was still under contract with the UFC.
Rocha was also making his boxing debut that night, but while Diaz hasn’t stepped back into the ring since, his opponent would go on to compile a 7-4 record, with his last fight in 2006 seeing him drop a decision to future interim IBF super-middleweight champion Andre Direll.
Donald Cerrone
It’s perhaps not surprising that UFC star Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone has a pro boxing fight on his record given that he’s tried just about every other extreme sport out there.
His lone welterweight (147 pounds) fight in the boxing ring actually predates both his MMA and kickboxing careers though, taking place in Denver, Colorado back in 2003 when he was just 20 years old.
His opponent that night was Geoffrey Spruiell, who had lost his own boxing debut just a few months earlier, but would fare much better against Cerrone, TKO’ing him in the second round.
Spruiell has since gone on to compile an underwhelming 8-11 record in the ring, while Cerrone was able to move on to bigger and better things by developing into a big star in MMA. 
Joe Duffy
The most seasoned male boxer currently on the UFC roster is Ireland’s Joe Duffy, who in late 2011 decided to pump the brakes on his MMA career and devote himself to competing in the squared circle instead, despite having amassed a very respectable 11-1 record in the cage by that point.
The idea to make this bold move came when he found himself training at a gym in London where he had the opportunity to work with some of the best boxing coaches and fighters around, like James DeGale, Andy Lee, George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr, and that convinced him to take advantage of the situation and transition away from MMA, at least for a while.
In 2013, Duffy began to compete regularly in the boxing ring, and in his first month as a pro, he would rack up three victories.
By the end of that year Duffy had built up a 7-0 record, though as is often the case with up-and-coming boxers, he’d yet to fight anyone of any real significance.
Duffy’s passion for MMA never faded during this time though, and so no doubt spurred on by the fact that a young MMA fighter he’d once defeated by the name of Conor McGregor was now becoming a huge star in the Octagon, he decided to follow his heart and return to the sport, bringing his newly found boxing skills with him.
A year later Duffy signed for the UFC, where he remains to this day, having recently secured a new contract with the promotion.
Holly Holm
The most decorated boxer in the UFC is unquestionably ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ Holly Holm, who was already an established star in the ring long before her transition to MMA.
Holm made her boxing debut in early 2002 at the age of 20 and didn’t taste defeat until her tenth bout, where she suffered a deep cut to the face that forced her corner to throw in the towel.
However, in her very next fight, Holm would then win the women’s IBA light-welterweight (140 pounds) and went on to become an almost unstoppable force for the best part of a decade afterwards, amassing a formidable 33-2-3 record.
Along the way, she would defeat the likes of Christy Martin, Mia St. John, Chevelle Hallback, Mary Jo Sanders and Anne Sophia Mathis, won multiple belts in three different weight categories, and racked up 18 successful title defenses.
During her long winning streak Holm would be declared ‘Fighter Of The Year’ twice by ‘Ring’ magazine and is widely considered to be one of the best female boxers of all-time.
Of course Holm then went on to be a major force in mixed martial arts too, shocking the world by defeating Ronda Rousey to claim the UFC’s featherweight title, while at the same time going into the record books as the first person ever to win major titles in both boxing and MMA.
Mark Hunt
Mark ’The Super Samoan’ Hunt may be one of the hardest-hitting heavyweights in MMA, but that didn’t help him make an impact when he tried his hand at boxing in the fledgling stages of his career.
Hunt made his boxing debut in 1998 at the Bondi Beach Club in Sydney, Australia at the age of 24, some six years before his first MMA fight.
His opponent, John Wyborn, had more experience, but held a less than formidable record of 3-6 at the time, yet he would go on to defeat Hunt on the scorecards after three rounds of fighting.
Hunt started dabbling in professional kickboxing afterwards and was signed by K-1 in Japan, but then briefly returned to boxing in the year 2000, going up against an undefeated opponent, Joe Askew.
Hunt would take the 8-0 Askew to a judge’s decision, at which point the fight was declared a draw.
After that Hunt shifted his focus entirely to his burgeoning K-1 career in Japan and then later started competing in MMA as well for the likes of PRIDE and then later the UFC, becoming a fan favorite along the way. 
Jorge Masvidal
Jorge Masvidal is one of the most technical counterpunchers in the UFC, and that’s in no small part thanks to having trained in boxing during his formative years.
Masvidal grew up in Miami and trained at various gyms, where he was able to watch, learn and spar with a number of elite-level boxers, including Olympic stars and world champions.
After initially using those skills to shine in prize fights on the streets of Miami, Masvidal then moved on to compete in MMA in 2003, but never afraid of a challenge, he did also undertake a professional boxing bout in 2005.
Fighting at middleweight (160 pounds), Masvidal’s opponent was to be Joseph Benjamin, who had an absolutely dismal record of 1-11-2 and had been used as a stepping stone for a number of up-and-coming fighters, including future star Andre Berto, who had beaten him by unanimous decision just a few months before ‘Gamebred’ faced him.
Masvidal claimed a four-round majority decision victory over Benjamin, but at the time MMA was proving to be the more lucrative option financially so he hasn’t returned to the boxing ring since. 
Court McGee
Court McGee started taking on-board boxing fights in Utah back in 2008, while also still actively competing in MMA as well.
In fact, his boxing debut on May 31st of that year came just two weeks after he’d fought to a unanimous decision victory at a regional MMA event in Salt Lake City.
Nevertheless, competing at cruiserweight (200 pounds), McGee managed to earn a unanimous decision victory over fellow newcomer Francisco Antonio Alcantara that night.
One weekend in October later that year, McGee not only celebrated his batchelor party, but also stepped back into the ring against another debuting fighter, Freddie Martinez, whom he would again defeat on the scorecards.
By that stage, McGee had also compiled a 10-1 MMA record, and so he chose to concentrate on that, which paid dividends a couple of years later when he won The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 11 and made it into the UFC. 
Mike Perry
In the fledgling stages of his career, Mike ‘Platinum’ Perry tried his hand at both MMA and boxing.
After winning his first two MMA fights by way of KO, Perry signed up for his professional boxing debut in March of 2015 at super middleweight (168 pounds). However, he was perhaps biting off more than he could chew at that stage as he would be facing a more experienced opponent in Kenneth McNeil, who had a 6-1 boxing record.
The fight was scheduled for four rounds, and in the final stanza Perry briefly had McNeil in some trouble after landing a clean right hand, but then soon aferwards ate a hard overhand right that sent him staggering to the canvas and leading to a KO finish.
Putting that disappointment behind him, he continued competing on the regional MMA scene and racked up a series of stoppage victories before being called up to the UFC in 2016.
