38-year-old Gabriel Gonzaga is the latest mixed martial artist making the switch from the cage to the squared circle
Former UFC heavyweight title contender Gabriel Gonzaga at New England’s Future 4 event in Worcester, Mass., on Oct. 28 against Alando Pugh. Gonzaga’s opponent has a sketchy 1-10-1 record, with nine of those ten defeats coming by way of knockout.
Gongaza fought Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title in 2007 having famously upset Mirko Cro Cop. “Napao” holds wins over Ben Rothwell, Shawn Jordan and Dave Herman in the UFC.
“RPE is excited to have an athlete of Gonzaga’s caliber making his pro debut on our NEF 4 boxing event,” promoter Jose Antonio Rivera stated. “We are happy that boxers and MMA athletes trust us in terms of what we are trying to do to help them build their careers.”
Gonzaga announced his retirement from MMA in an interview with MMA Fighting last year, stating that he was reluctant to fight unless the compensation was in line with the risk:
“I don’t fight for less than 100 thousand dollars,” Gonzaga said at the time. “I’m 37 years old and I won’t risk my health or waste my time training and suffering for this. I don’t need it anymore. God gave me a good opportunity in life, and I don’t need this anymore. That would be my number. For less than 100 thousand, I wouldn’t step into a ring anymore.”
