Troubled rapper DMX is training for the fight of his life, and it's not the comeback album Swizz Beatz has been hyping, nor is it the gospel record X has been promising fans.

In December, DMX is scheduled to fight musician Eric Martinez in Birmingham, Alabama. The fight, which is the undercard of the Tank Abbot vs. Butterbean (!) bout, will take place on Dec. 12 at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, in an event which has been dubbed "Alabama Pride." We're not sure we'd go that far.

X's opponent, Martinez, is CEO of Power Moves Entertainment, a management firm, event promotions company and record label, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Stranger still, Martinez is apparently a member of DMX's management team.

Though X has a history of assault charges, we're not sure what kind of shape he's in for a steel cage match. Previous celebrity MMA combatants include Spencer Pratt and Jose Conseco, who lasted 77 seconds in the ring.