(USA Today Sports Images)Football players training in MMA is nothing new. NFLers including Aldon Smith, Jared Allen and Arthur Jones train with some of the sport's best fighters in the off-season.

Former players have gotten into MMA, as well. Herschel Walker had a storied career on the football field before he started with Strikeforce. Matt Mitrione played for several NFL teams before becoming a heavyweight in the UFC.

But a current pro football player in a fight? That's different. Chad Owens, who won the Canadian Football League's Most Outstanding Player last season and whose team won the Grey Cup, is debuting in a fight in Hawaii on Apr. 6. He will fight Junyva Tevaga at Destiny: Na Koa III, in the bout that is both men's MMA debut.

According to Owens, he's looking for a new challenge.

"I wanted to get into something new. A new challenge. Something to keep me hungry. I always wanted to get into it sometime and this off season I thought would be the perfect time," Owens said to Hawaii News Now.

According to the Toronto Star, Owens is not in danger of breaching his contract with the fight. Still, do you think it's a risk worth taking? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Thanks to the 55-Yard Line.

(Getty)MMA and professional wrestling share plenty of fans. After all, it was the WWE's lead-in to "The Ultimate Fighter" years ago that helped make the show a success on Spike. Brock Lesnar was a huge star in pro wrestling before becoming the UFC heavyweight champion. After losing his belt and retiring from MMA, he went back to WWE. But could even the most ardent fans of both sports couldn't expect to see the executives of the UFC and WWE take each other on, right?

Well, according to UFC president Dana White, he was once challenged to a match by WWE chairman Vince McMahon.

"Vince is too old, which he won't think he is and he'll go crazy," White said during an interview with Canada's RDS. "He wanted to do that one time. Vince wanted to fight me. Swear to God, he called me up and said, `Let's do it. We can either do it in the UFC or let's do it at WrestleMania.' And I said, `You are crazy. I always said I respect Vince and I'll say it again. I respect Vince very much, but Vince is too old to be fighting."

MMA Fighting says this happened in 2010, when McMahon was 65 and White was 41. McMahon was ready to make the headline event of Wrestlemania 27 a staged or real match between him and White. But White didn't ever entertain the idea.

"I laughed and said, 'You're crazy, you're out of your mind,' White said on Fuel TV. "In the interview (the night before), I said Vince was too old. We're both too old. I'm too old, too, just for the record."

But crazy ideas helped McMahon become the gajillionaire he is today. Would you spend the money on a pay-per-view to watch men who are "too old" in a pro wrestling match? Speak up in the comments, Facebook or on Twitter.

(Getty)As was announced on Saturday night, the next version of "The Ultimate Fighter" will be coached by UFC women's bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey and the winner of Cat Zingano and Miesha Tate's April bout.The show will feature hopefuls for the UFC's men's and women's bantamweight division, meaning men and women will live together and train together for the six weeks the show tapes.

Though it's a first for the UFC, it's not for reality television. From "The Biggest Loser" to "Survivor," men and women live together during reality show taping. But since this is the UFC's first foray into coed programming, here are a few suggestions for the UFC to rise above the usual reality show muck.

Don't rely on tired gender stereotypes. Picture it. A group of female fighters walk into the kitchen, and the men have left it a mess. "Ugh, those guys are so gross!" When the men walk in to the women's complaining, they tell the women to clean it up. Aaaand, scene.

Please, UFC, don't push this kind of "drama" in the house. There will be more than enough real drama in a house full of fighters clawing their way to the UFC without relying on the junk fit for "Two and a Half Men." Instead, show how fighters don't fit into neat, little boxes.

Jordan Mein works through his to-do list. (Getty)

Jordan Mein had an excellent UFC debut on Saturday night. In one round, he knocked out Dan Miller, who had never been knocked out before. Now he gets to put a smiley face next to Miller's name on the list he keeps.

"I wrote down every single welterweight in the UFC," Mein said to MMA Junkie. "You've got to know who you're going to fight. You've got to have goals set in mind. You've got to know what's up, what's next. I look at that list every day. Dan Miller was in there. I look at his name and I'm like, OK, I'm ready. I've got to train every day, look at it when you wake up every day."

Do you think Mein uses stickers or markers for the smiley face? Does he put a gold star when he finishes the fight? Jokes aside, Mein isn't the only fighter who is known to put his goals in writing. UFC bantamweight Urijah Faber is known to keep his goals on the wall in his bedroom, so he is looking at them every morning.

It's going to be fun to watch how Mein tackles the rest of the names. Though he's just 23, he's put together a record of 27-8. He has both youth and experience on his side.

(Getty)

After months of build-up, UFC came and went and the welterweight belt stayed in the hands of Georges St-Pierre. But the fighters who stood out were not at the top of the card. Read on for the Three Stars of UFC 158, and yes, it's just a coincidence that their names all start with J.

No. 1 star — Jake Ellenberger: He needed a big win to stay near the top of the UFC's packed welterweight division. His canvas-smelling knockout of Nate Marquardt certainly did the trick. It earned him a $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus, and pushed him closer to an elusive title shot.

No. 2 star — Jordan Mein: How do you make sure everyone remembers your UFC debut? Knocking out a fighter who has never been knocked out before is a good start. Mein's first round TKO of Dan Miller showed the amazing amounts of potential for this 23-year-old.

No. 3 star — Johny Hendricks: When he beat Martin Kampmann, Hendricks was told he would get the next shot at GSP, but Diaz was given the fight instead. Instead of complaining, Hendricks came out on the winning end of a thrilling bout with Carlos Condit.

Who were your Three Stars? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

(USA Today Sports)UFC 158 in Montreal featured a huge knockout, a disappointing if unsurprising title bout, and a few snoozers on the main card. Complete results:

Georges St-Pierre def. Nick Diaz via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45): After Diaz asked for the fight with GSP for years, he came out flat against the champion. Diaz couldn't stop GSP's takedowns, and was controlled for the entire bout. When they were on their feet, GSP landed jabs at will. Diaz never found his rhythm.

Johny Hendricks def. Carlos Condit via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28): Hendricks knew he had to get an exciting win to not just beat Condit, but to impress the UFC enough to get a title shot. He did it with a thrilling, back and forth fight that had Hendricks throw everything but the kitchen sink at Condit, who somehow withstood all the striking. Hendricks also used takedowns to neutralize Condit.

After the fight, Hendricks asked for a title shot against George St-Pierre. He even offered to fly to GSP's house and hire a ref for their bout. It's Hendricks' sixth win in a row. The fight was also good enough to win $50,000 Fight of the Night bonuses for each fighter.

(Getty)During the broadcast of UFC 158, UFC president Dana White announced that women's bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey and the winner of an upcoming bout between Cat Zingano and Miesha Tate will coach on the next season of "The Ultimate Fighter." The new UFC division made its debut just weeks ago at UFC 157, and this will be the first time women act as coaches on the show that helped launch the UFC to the company it is today.

White said the show will feature both male and female bantamweights who are trying to win a UFC contract. They will train together and live together in a house in Las Vegas. Tryouts for bantamweight hopefuls will take place on April 15 in Las Vegas.

The longtime staple of the UFC had faltered in ratings in recent seasons. However, the season currently airing, coached by UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and his upcoming opponent Chael Sonnen, has injected new life into the show.

Adding women to the mix for the first time should continue to boost ratings. If Tate wins her Apr. 13 bout against Zingano, it will add bad blood between the coaches. Tate and Rousey fought for the Strikeforce bantamweight belt last March, and had plenty of animosity with each other before the bout.

But Rousey will be a draw no matter who she coaches against. She is known for her outspoken personality, and drew a ton of interest for her UFC debut in late February.

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(Getty)In a week that will end with a longheld grudge match at UFC 158, who showed up as the week's hottest?

[Related: Nick Diaz brings circus to town with GSP fight hype]

Hot — Mark Hunt: The heavyweight went from being disappointed last week that he didn't get a bout with Junior dos Santos to getting that bout, and a possible title shot with a win.

Not — TRT users in the UFC: Some fighters get exemptions for use of testosterone therapy in the UFC, but UFC president Dana White wants that to end quickly. Viewing the therapy as a form of cheating, White has vowed to reform it.

"If you put in a TRT exemption, we’re going to make sure you’re not using this much TRT and then showing up with this much," White said at the UFC 158 press conference. "So what that does is, the guys who do that, that are on TRT, their training camp is a lot easier than the guy who’s all natural. The bangs, the injuries, all the s--- that goes on, they’re recovering 10 times faster than the guy who’s not doing it. So