Ravel Morrison was left hurt as he takes up a surprise new career change it would seem, swapping football in favour for some MMA fighting.
The 28 year old Jamaican has been left with a massive bruise on his arm after taking up a mixed martial arts training session.
Lately, he’s been really struggling for game time on the pitch, and now that he’s free to do whatever he pleases, it seems that he’s tried his hand in the octagon with UFC star Lerone Murphy this week.
Fair to say it will be an experience to get used to and he’s since taken to his Instagram Story with a picture of the bruise, saying in his caption: “Grappling and striking with my new coach @lpresi145.”
Morrison, who was once destined for big things when coming through Manchester United’s academy, had been looking to join a 12th different club of his career.
He recently suffered an ill-fated spell with Dutch outfit ADO Den Haag with his contract being mutually terminated in January.
Last month, Morrison was spotted training with Sheffield Wednesday, but the Championship strugglers opted against offering the midfielder a short-term deal, leaving him thinking over his options.
Explaining the decision, Owls boss Darren Moore said: “Ravel is excellent and did so well when he came in. I just felt at the time, that we needed people to hit the ground running.
“It would have taken him a few weeks to get up to speed.
“That was the only thing really. The door is not closed on him. For the future, we’ll keep in touch with him.
“With most free transfers, to find one that’s able to go physically straight away is hard. Nothing can replicate training, side-by-side with fellow professionals.
“It’s only when they come in the building that you see the depth of it really. It’s very, very difficult.”
MORRISON’S CAREER:
2010–2012 – Manchester United
2012–2015 – West Ham United – 18 games (3 goals)
2012–2013 → Birmingham City (loan) – 27 games (3 goals)
2014 → Queens Park Rangers (loan) – 15 games (6 goals)
2014 → Cardiff City (loan) – 7 games (0 goals)
2015–2019 – Lazio – 4 games (0 goals)
2017 → Queens Park Rangers (loan) – 5 games (0 goals)
2017–2018 → Atlas (loan) – 18 games (3 goals)
2019 – Östersund – 6 games (0 goals)
2019–2020 – Sheffield United – 1 game (0 goals)
2020 → Middlesbrough (loan) – 3 games (0 goals)
2020–2021 – ADO Den Haag – 4 games (0 goals)
Fans reacted after seeing that Ravel Morrison was left hurt as he takes up a surprise new career change…
@shoutinthewind: What a waste
@andywellie: Mmmnn not the sharpest tool in the box.
@aidan0873: In before he’s shite at that and people come out with “But Dana White said he was soooo good in training”
@andymcknight17: Neil Warnock did it👊
@Blade1971Simon: Just behave yourself, Buckle down, train hard, do as you are asked and respect those above you and you will go a long way in football – Ravel has let himself down at every club he’s been at. No sympathy if he takes a beating in a trade he is not prepared for.
@themagicbeatle: Laugh. If he never put the effort in to play football he definitely doesn’t have what it takes to be a fighter.
@ElliotGingell: That’s how Wednesday gets ya 🤷🏻♂️ 😂
@HSternIsBatman: No discipline for Football, no way he can handle MMA.
@luc_bailey1: As interesting as it is to see him try his hand at this, I can’t help but feel sad for him. Outrageous amount of talent that potentially could’ve won England a World Cup or two. That goal against spurs will live long in the memory
@i3lade4life: Training with the grunters must be rough
This comes weeks after we reported that another ex-Premier League player to become professional fighter? Yep, that could be the case with Dejan Lovren taking his chances recently.
The former Liverpool defender has been trying his hand at MMA after being spotted sparring with fighting star Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic.
MMA for those who want extra clarification is mixed martial arts, sometimes referred to as cage fighting, where fighters make moves such as striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports and martial arts from around the world.
46 year old CroCop is a mega name among those on the fighting scenes – enduring a superb career which has seen the Croatian claim 38 wins with five of them coming in the UFC.
The heavyweight mixed martial artist, who shares the same nationality as Lovren, has been showing the footballer the basics of how to hold strong ground when fighting.
The clip, which shows the duo embroiled in a tense exchange, was posted on CroCop’s official Facebook page, and it had many people laughing.
He posted footage of the session with the caption: “Had this morning a short training session against @crocop1009. What a beast this man still is. Was a big pleasure Mirko. Thank you.
As you can see, Lovren managed to hold on for nearly one minute before the former UFC fighter locked in an arm bar to make him tap-out.
If ex-Premier League player Lovren is serious on becoming a professional fighter, when taking account of his current height and weight, he would compete in the middleweight (185lb) division, which is still two weight classes below CroCop.
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