When NFL All-Pro linebacker Shawne Merriman first became interested in MMA, he was just a fan of the sport after attending a UFC event headlined by Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell in 2005.

It wasn’t long after that he got connected to Couture through FOX Sports football insider Jay Glazer, who also regularly trained MMA in his spare time. Merriman decided that rather than just staying a fan, he’d actually learn more about the sport by doing it, which he then incorporated into his offseason training routine.

It’s safe to say after that experience, he fell in love with MMA.

“It was probably the most humbling shit that happened to me in my life,” Merriman told MMA Fighting. “I’m bigger than [Randy Couture] is, I’m stronger than he is, I’m more explosive, more athletic — somehow he found a way to just throw me around. I was getting tired pummeling! We didn’t even get into the actual workout. I was gassed.

“I try to tell people, especially when a lot of athletes get into this, that it’s a game changer. I believe I came out in that 2006 year and led the league in sacks. I was just so much better with my hands, my endurance, opening my hips up, being able to turn the corner on some of these big offensive tackles. Everybody is doing it now, but back then, everybody looked at me like I was crazy.”

After his NFL career ended, Merriman turned his passion for MMA into a business by starting his own promotion called Lights Out Xtreme Fighting — based on his nickname on the football field — back in 2019. On Saturday, Merriman promotes his 18th event with a card in Long Beach, Calif.

Merriman also recently launched his own streaming app, Lights Out Sports, that showcases his MMA promotion among many other sports and games as he continues to expand his business interests.

With nearly two decades spent studying MMA and an NFL career that spanned eight seasons and included three Pro Bowl appearances, Merriman has a vast understanding of both sports. That’s why he’s keeping his eye on football rather than wrestling, kickboxing, or Brazilian jiu-jitsu when it comes to the next great prospect to make waves in MMA.

“I think the next heavyweight champion, like the great next champion after Jon Jones and a lot of these guys depart, there’s going to be a strong safety, a linebacker, a defensive end that says, ‘You know what? This is what I want to do.’ They’re going to take it serious,” Merriman told MMA Fighting.

“I do believe you’re going to get a guy that’s three years, four years, five years in, get cut, get traded, bad coaching staff, get benched and he says, ‘Screw it, I’m done playing this game, I’m about to go whoop somebody’s ass.’ That mentality along with that athleticism with the guy being on the field, that is what’s going to drive the next heavyweight champion, I believe.”

While there are plenty of fighters with a history playing football, it’s been a rare instance that a high-level NFL pro makes the transition.

The most recent example was former Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowler Greg Hardy, who earned a spot on the UFC roster with only three fights on his MMA résumé. While he did find some success early on, Hardy ultimately flamed out with a 4-5 record and one no contest before leaving the promotion.

That being said, Merriman still credits Hardy for making the transition, but he also knows it was really an anomaly compared to the larger number of players he expects to eventually test themselves in MMA over the next few years.

Why exactly is he predicting a mass exodus of NFL pros suddenly deciding to fight MMA?

“Because the money’s there,” Merriman said. “That was the issue. Even the times when I was thinking about fighting and I had offers to fight, the money just wasn’t there when I retired. I would have got right into MMA, I would have taken a fight almost immediately. I would have trained for a year or two but then I would have started to fight, but the money wasn’t there at the time. The money is there now.”

Merriman says he talks to NFL players who have already shown interest in eventually crossing over to fighting. He promises many of the NFL athletes thinking about that move are household names and not just a practice squad player who couldn’t cut it.

He believes carrying that name value sets up an NFL player for more financial success to start a fighting career than the average prospect.

“You’ve got to think this whole business, because I’m in it, is about selling tickets, pay-per-views, getting eyeballs,” Merriman said. “You’re an NFL guy with a name behind him that people know. He went to Texas Tech or Florida State and he actually had some success in the NFL, he’s going to make a lot more because he’s going to draw a different crowd. He’s not going to climb that same ladder that most fighters will because he actually has a name and can sell tickets and pay-per-views.

“It makes a lot more sense for a mid-to-upper tier guy that people know. I’m not saying it’s going to be a superstar, a five- and six-time Pro Bowler, but a guy with Pro Bowl potential, a guy that’s a standout on his team that football fans know. If he starts to climb the ladder the right way, there’s a lot of money that’s waiting on him three, four, five fights in.”

Merriman isn’t going to set a deadline on when a known NFL pro decides to test themselves in MMA as more than just a bucket list item to cross off, but he fully expects it to happen sooner than later.

“If I was betting on the sport, which I can’t but if I was, I think it would happen in the next couple of years,” Merriman said. “I don’t think it’s going to be too far out. I see guys training. I still go to all the gyms. I’ve been around long enough that I know these managers, I know these coaches, I know the gyms, I’ll pop in a couple days and get on the mat, do a couple rounds of sparring just to stay in shape. I just love being around it, but I see some of these guys who are curious, just popping in the gym and working. These are the guys who are known.

“There’s one or two guys that slip through the cracks that take it really, really serious, willing to put that time and that work in, that’s going to become a light heavyweight or heavyweight champion one day.”