Shawne Merriman Launches MMA Promotion, Considering Fighting

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Ex-NFL star Shawne Merriman is jumping from the gridiron to the cage — launching an MMA promotion — and he’s considering fighting … TMZ Sports has learned.

We talked to Shawne — a 6’4″, 265 lb. linebacker who made 3 Pro Bowls in his 8-year career — about the creation of his new promotion, Lights Out Xtreme Fighting.

Unlike Dana White, Merriman tells us — if the opponent was right — he’d be down to fight … despite co-owning the biz.

The former Chargers star isn’t new to mixed martial arts … he’s been around the combat sports game for years — and was even scheduled to take a bare-knuckle fight in late 2018 before things fell apart.

Merriman isn’t the 1st famous former athlete to launch an MMA promotion … Oscar De La Hoya started Golden Boy MMA last year and put on Chuck Liddell–Tito Ortiz III.

Lights Out Xtreme Fighting’s 1st card is going down May 11 in Burbank.