Vasyl Lomachenko is really getting his name out there in the MMA community.
The two-weight world champion has a 7-1 pro record, an insane 396-1 amateur record and is undoubtedly one of the pound-for-pound best pugilists currently competing.
His movement, his footwork, his distance management, his technique… pretty much every single aspect of his game has combat sports nerds, not just boxing fans, drooling with delight every time he steps inside the ring.
That’s why when there was a lot of excitement (and subsequent disappointment) when that sparring footage with UFC star TJ Dillashaw started doing the rounds. It’s also why his strange call-out of Conor McGregor racked up so many interactions on social media.
The word is out. This Ukrainians talents have transcended his own sport, but this tweet to ‘the Notorious’ was just plain weird.
@TheNotoriousMMA NinjaTurtle Lomanchelo waiting for you in the ring.I can test you pic.twitter.com/tjD2LEJS8f
— LOMA (@VasylLomachenko) March 11, 2017
Fortunately, there is an explanation for the bizarre photo of Lomachenko dressed in full Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle attire. He revealed all in recent interview with Seconds Out.
“My friend gave me this present, this suit, Ninja Turtle. I train with this suit, and after that, when I come back home, I take my phone and listen to the internet. I saw some video with McGregor.”
“McGregor say, ‘You know, I can fight with a ninja turtle. Why you talking about Mayweather? If I want to fight ninja turtle, I can fight with ninja turtle.”
Some people assumed that Lomachenko was looking for some sort of a crossover money fight against McGregor, but that wasn’t the case. The call-out was just for shits and giggles, but he offered to spar with the UFC lightweight champion, which would come in handy if that Floyd Mayweather fight came to fruition as expected.
“I saw this, and then think, ‘Oh! I have a suit, Ninja Turtle. Why not? I send this message for him, but I’m not talking about an official fight. I say just boxing test. If we make a sparring session, I think it will be great for him, because I can show him boxing skills.”
If they do end up sparring, we only ask one thing, please give upload a longer video of that session. 16 seconds was really taking the piss.
