Ray Lewis to take a stab at Ultimate Fighting?

Ray Lewis to take a stab at Ultimate Fighting?
In a story thought's roughly 100% awesome and 0% believable, MediaTakeOut.com is reporting that Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is close to signing a deal with Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Media Take Out makes up reports:

According to a person who works at U.F.C., the Baltimore Ravens star linebacker and the league have been negotiating for months and are close to closing the deal. The insider told MediaTakeOut.com, "Ray Lewis was an All-American wrestler in high school, and he's just an all around bad a**. He'll fit in perfectly here."

And the insider claims that the deal wouldn't interfere with Ray's NFL career. He explained to MediaTakeOut.con, "We're not looking to sign him on full-time, just a match or two a year - and he can handpick the opponent ... He has such a big name that it will do wonders for the sport."

I guess it's believable in the sense that Ray-Ray might be a "bad a**," and he does appear to have a proclivity for violence.

But no NFL team is going to let a star player fight in the UFC. It's just not happening. Ray Lewis obviously doesn't need the money, he (to my knowledge, anyway) has no mixed martial arts background, and generally has no reason to sign up to be punched repeatedly in the face.

The only way this would be fun is if Ray's "handpicked" opponents could be anyone from the NFL, whether they were willing or not. I don't think I'd pay to see Ray Lewis get beat down (mind if I borrow that term, Wilbon?) by Rampage Jackson, but if Ray Lewis and Ben Roethlisberger were locked in a cage? Here's my $49.95.

(Big thanks: Construda)

• Ray Lewis, UFC star? / Construda
• NFL's Ray Lewis is Talks to Join the UFC / MediaTakeOut.com

(UPDATE: Yes, this story is garbage.)