Johnny Manziel Shows Glimpse Into His Training Camp Ahead of Boxing Debut

Former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel has had a pretty eventful post-NFL career.

After a failed two-year stint with the Cleveland Browns, Manziel bounced around the Canadian Football League, the defunct Alliance of American Football, and the Fan Controlled Football league before retiring from football in 2022.

Now it appears Manziel is embarking on another career in sports as he's preparing to make his boxing debut against social media personality Bob Menery on May 23 at the UFC Apex for Adin Ross' Brand Risk Promotions.

In a video posted on social media, Manziel, with a cigarette in mouth, showed how seriously he's taking the fight, informing fans he was hitting the beach for some post-training downtime.

"I had a long day training for the Menery fight," Manziel stated. "Going to go get five steps in on the beach. I would fight this [expletive] for free. The fact that I'm getting paid for it is even better. [He's] making excuses about weight…I mean what the [expletive] is even going on here, Bob? How about I kick your [expletive], then we go out and I outdrink you too and we'll see who the real winner is?"

Conversely, Menery, whom UFC president Dana White was willing to wager $100,000 would find an excuse to back out of the fight with Manziel, posted on social media that he's been having trouble putting on weight in order to minimize Manziel's size advantage.

"No one knows this, but I have so many disadvantages in this thing," he claimed. "He's got me by 25 pounds and I have to, like, just try to force myself to eat 24/7 for regulation [expletive].

"It's the [expletive] worst. Grateful for food in front of me. And could be a lot worse of course. And I have trouble gaining weight, I have my whole life. It's frustrating and has nothing to do with zaps ha. Adin Ross and all of them coming in hot this week."

Manziel is the latest in a line of former NFL players including Alonzo Highsmith, Greg Hardy, Le'Veon Bell, and Adrian Peterson to turn to boxing in their post-playing careers.

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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 5:02 PM.