Manny Pacquiao is now on MMA?

Yes that's right. But it isn't what you think. PACMAN is not stepping inside the octagon to fight; rather, the boxer has purchased an undisclosed number of shares for the Asian MMA. Pacquiao is now connected to the MMA scene via promoter Asian-based One Fighting Championship. This has been confirmed by CEO Victor Cui through Yahoo Sports.

According to CEO Victor Cui "I'm pretty pumped. There are a ton of reasons why I'm pretty excited about this. Obviously, Manny Pacquiao is a global sports icon and having him as a part of our organization as a shareholder and promoting One FC and promoting the sport is huge for the sport in the region. It promotes awareness and growth."

Cui described the boxing champ as a new MMA Fan. Pacquiao wears an eight ounce gloves when he boxes while the MMA gloves weights half of it. When the boxer wore the MMA gloves, it can be seen that he is calculating the difference of the gloves.

Cui said "You could see him calculating the difference from the boxing gloves to the MMA gloves. He said to me, 'Man, someone could get hurt with the power of my punches if I could wear these.'"

MMA has been gaining popularity in the Philippines. Ex-UFC contender Brandon Vera and women's boxing star Ana Julaton has recently signed a One FC Contract. Both fighters are Filipino-American.

"There are a lot of common fans and common ties with MMA and boxing [in the Philippines] and MMA awareness is much stronger than it is in other parts of Asia." Cue added "Manny has been looking for some opportunities outside of boxing, and he and his team have kept an eye on the sport of MMA. It made a lot of sense to him. He knows we have a 90 percent market share [in Asia] and how strong our brand is in Asia. He knows the global reach of our organization and there was a comfort level there."

Pacquiao has a pending fight this coming Nov 22 to defend his WBO welterweight title in Macau, China. He will be fighting against Chris Algieri.