The MMA and football world got some eye-opening news recently. Former Dallas Cowboy great Herschel Walker announced he will compete in Mixed Martial Arts and signed a multi-fight contract with national MMA promotion, Strikeforce.

Walker joins the likes of professional athletes, Brock Lesnar and Jose Canseco by joining the sport.

Lesnar's entrance into MMA can be considered a serious one. It was a logical progression for the athletically gifted former NCAA All- America and WWE wrestler. Canseco's entrance was more of a one shot novelty. Walker's intention appears to be in line with Lesnar's. He wants to test his martial arts background for the challenge of the competition.

The big question is: How well will Herschel Walker fare in MMA?

Herschel holds a fifth degree black belt in Taekwondo. This Korean striking art is viewed as an inferior fighting style in MMA competition. Then, again, that's what people thought about Karate before Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida took the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 98 and declared, "Karate is back!"

Walker is now 47 years of age and twelve years past his NFL playing career with the Cowboys. One can make an argument that he's too much past his prime years to make an impact in MMA. On the other hand, one need look no further than Randy "The Natural" Couture who won and defended his UFC heavyweight title at the age of 44.

I acutally ran into Walker when covering UFC 103 in Dallas two weekends ago. In fact, it was two days before the announcement of his signing with Strikeforce.

I failed to introduce myself to him because instead of wearing my journalist hat I wore my child-in-awe-seeing-

one-of-his heroes hat. Walker was in incredible athletic shape, the kind of shape that makes people stare. It's clear that this guy will never be a person who's told, "you look good for your age."

Walker's versatility will be another factor in his attempt to be successful in MMA. He knows a marital art, not a collection of them. To shore up gaps in his game, Walker has enlisted the help of nationally renowned MMA training camp, American Kickboxing Academy (AKA).

Top UFC fighters, Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, and Mike Swick train at AKA. Walker has stated he is starting a 12-week training camp with them and could fight as early as December 2009 as a heavyweight.

Walker signed with Strikeforce which is sort of a B-tier organization to the UFC's A-tier. He might be competitive there and be a draw for them. If pitted against just the right opponents, perhaps opponents lacking in ground fighting skills that could expose Walker, he could find a niche in the sport for a while.

Still, in my opinion, he will fail against upper-tier mixed martial artists. No matter how physically gifted an athlete is, he can't stack up to an athlete with years of well-rounded training and experience.

Off the Herschel Walker news, there's one more thing to report. The WEC is returning to Texas for WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson. I'll be covering the event for The News at San Antonio's AT&T; Center. Tickets are still available and more info can be found at the WEC's website, wec.tv.

David Estrada Jr. is a Mixed Martial Arts columnist for the Port Arthur News. He can be e-mailed at

DavidEstrada@DavidEstrada.com