Blood in the Ballroom: A look at UFC fighters on 'Dancing with the Stars'
Endless hours of intense training. Vicious feuds. Gruesome injuries.
These are the challenges facing UFC fighter Paige VanZant as she prepares herself for the Season 22 premiere of "Dancing with the Stars" on Monday night.
The 21-year-old strawweight enters the show as the favorite to win the coveted mirror ball trophy, but it won't be easy. A cast of killer celebs stand in her way, including former "O.C." star Mischa Barton, "Boyz II Men" crooner Wanya Morris, reporter extraordinaire Geraldo Rivera, and NFL superstars Antonio Brown and Von Miller.
If VanZant is victorious, she can thank the brave fighters who paved the way for her.
Here are three not-so-gentle giants who made the move from combos to choreography with varying degrees of success:
Chuck Liddell (Season 9)
Chuck Liddell is known for his "Iceman" persona, but alongside Anna Trebunskaya he set the DWTS stage on fire ... for a few weeks at least.
Known more for his brutal battles with Tito Ortiz and Wanderlei Silva, one can only imagine how mortified the former light heavyweight champion must have been when he discovered that his first dance on the show would be a light and breezy foxtrot:
For the most part, Liddell was as stiff as one of his many knockout victims, but he did manage to score a respectable 19 (out of 30) with a tango in Week 2:
It was downhill from there for Liddell as he would last two more weeks before being voted out.
Randy Couture (Season 19)
Following in the footsteps of Liddell was another UFC legend, "The Natural" Randy Couture.
Once again, it was the dreaded foxtrot that welcomed our intrepid martial artist to the cage. Couture fared much better than Liddell, earning a 31 (out of 40) for one of the top Week 1 scores.
Unfortunately, he and partner Karina Smirnoff failed to capitalize on that fast start. A Week 2 cha cha had Couture looking like he'd rather be going five rounds with Brock Lesnar:
And a paso doble in Week 3 sealed his fate as Couture would be the third celebrity eliminated:
In retrospect, Couture should just be happy that he didn't accidentally bonk Smirnoff on the head with that ridiculous mid-routine boxing.
Jeff Monson (Season 2 - Russian edition)
Jeff Monson might not be a household name, but he's a veteran of 86 career MMA bouts spanning the UFC, PRIDE, Strikeforce, and countless other promotions.
He's gone toe-to-toe with world champions Tim Sylvia, Fedor Emelianenko, and Daniel Cormier, so how hard could it be to tackle some basic ballroom steps on the Russian version of DWTS?
Based on the above clip, it looks like partner Maria Smolnikova chose to emphasize Monson's theatrical side for their "Beauty and the Beast"-themed rumba. "The Snowman" melts all over the dance floor (and Smolnikova) as opposed to doing any real choreography, though there is something charming about the whole affair.
As a bonus, here's Monson doing the tango while wearing an absurdly ugly sweater:
Monson's season is currently in progress, so he still has a chance to outlast Liddell and Couture.
As you can see, VanZant has some tough acts to follow, but as long as she can walk and chew gum at the same time, she should be the best of the bunch.