By Mark Vester

It wasn't the kind of mixed martial arts that former WBO heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison was looking for. One the eve of Morrison's MMA debut, his former agent Randy Lang revealed to The Arizona Republic that Morrison had tested positive for the HIV virus in recent mandatory tests for a boxing license. Lang and Morrison split on February 25.

A license was not required for his MMA bout because the Cliff Castle Casino is outside the jurisdiction of the Arizona State Boxing Commission.

When Morrison hit the ring for his MMA debut against John Stover, who weighed over 340 pounds, the crowd of 2500 at the at Cliff Castle Casino almost booed him out of the building.

According to The Arizona Republic , there were last minute changes to the rules that made it almost impossible for Stover to win. The fight went from a bout being fought under MMA rules, to a fight that was nothing more than a boxing match in a cage.

Grappling was not allowed and Morrison was allowed to wear shoes.

Morrison won the bout by way of a first round TKO after landing a single punch that broke Stover's nose, but the former champ appeared to be badly exhuasted after fighting for less than 2 and a half minutes.  Stover told the paper that if grappling was allowed, he would have won. 

"If I could have got him on the mat, I would have won easy," Stover said.

Morrison, his promoter Peter McKinn, who is associated with Top Rank and manager Lisa Woodard, denied the allegations made by Lang.

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