DMX Says it 'Wouldn't Be Fair' to Train for Upcoming Fight

DMX has never been one to play by the rules, that much is well documented. So it should come as no surprise that that's the case even when the rapper is participating in a sporting event.

As previously reported, DMX is set to fight actor Eric Martinez. But, rather than follow a workout regimen in the spirit of Rocky Balboa, the rapper is intent on entering the ring with no preparation under his belt.

"I'm just gonna walk in as it is," the Ruff Ryder affiliate told Washington, D.C., station 106.7's MMA Nation. "It wouldn't be fair if I trained."

X, who stands at six feet tall and 175 pounds, seems confident in taking on his opponent, despite his burly frame.

"[Eric's] shorter than me [and] I think he weighs a little more than me," he revealed. When asked if he would knock out Martinez -- a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and CEO of Powermoves Entertainment -- during the first of three two minute rounds, the Yonkers native was quick to affirm his stance on the match: "I'm not gonna say that, [but] I don't think it's gonna make it to the end, either."

While initially thought to be a Mixed Martial Arts bout, DMX says he will not participate in the full contact combat sport. Instead he and Martinez will face off in the boxing ring.

"The gloves are skinny, they're kicking, there's too much going on," said X, a fan of boxers Zab Juda and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. "[MMA fighters] been training all they life. I wouldn't even do it like that."

What DMX will do during the December 12 fight at Alabama's Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex is enter the ring to the soundtrack of one of his high energy records. The rapper, who has six studio albums to his name, is planning to make his entrance to 'What's My Name?' from his 1999 album '... And Then There Was X.'

As for new music, fans can expect a new DMX album next year.

"Hopefully first quarter of 2010," he revealed. "I'm in the studio everyday banging joints out."