Chris McCain, formerly of the NFL’s San Diego Chargers, moved to 2-0 as an amateur on Saturday at LXF 3.
Former San Diego Charges player Chris McCain is the latest NFL alum looking to break into combat sports, and on Saturday, he made the next step in that process. McCain was competing under the LXF banner, a promotion run by fellow gridiron veteran Shawne Merriman. In an amateur heavyweight bout against Matheus Moraes, McCain went the distance, picking up a unanimous decision win.
Speaking to Cageside Press after the fight, McCain said he was confident when the fight went to the judges. “Throughout the whole fight, he only had really one takedown. No damage to my face, don’t feel anything, didn’t touch me to my face. Just had that one takedown at the end of the first round, and that was pretty much it.”
“I hit him with a lot of kicks, a head kick to him, a couple of punches here and there,” he noted. “I definitely wasn’t worried when it went to the judges.”
The fight was halted for a time due to a low blow, during which some impromptu adjustments were necessary for McCain’s cup.
“I was on top of him on the ground, he was trying to kick me off. It got me right on the cup, and ripped it right out of the slot that it’s in,” explained McCain. “It was hurting pretty bad right then.”
Decked out in his old Chargers jersey, McCain clearly holds his former sport in high regard. But of the difference between walking out on the field, and to the cage, he revealed that it’s “kind of the same. You still have your fans, you’re going to have people cheering you on, on your side, other people are going to cheer for the opponent.”
“The difference is, football’s eleven people, and fighting’s just one. That’s really the only difference,” he added. “I enjoy it a lot more in the cage than I did on the field.”
