Summary
- Rousey broke barriers in both UFC and WWE, becoming a world champion and main eventing WrestleMania.
- Lesnar excelled in WWE and UFC, winning titles in both and headlining PPV events.
- VanZant shifted from UFC to AEW wrestling, showcasing superstar potential in both combat sports.
The worlds of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts have never been as intertwined as they are today. In 2023, TKO Group Holdings, Inc. was formed during the merger between WWE and UFC
, with Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. taking the controlling stake.
With that being said, these two different industries have been connected for many years, with athletes dabbling in both worlds. Let’s take a look at the combat sports athletes who have participated in both MMA and pro wrestling during their careers.
Ronda Rousey
First Woman To Main Event WrestleMania
- She was an Olympian Judo athlete.
- She was a Strikeforce world champion and UFC world champion.
- Fought in the first women’s fight in UFC history.
- She was part of the first women’s main event in WrestleMania history.
Rousey is the most legendary women’s MMA fighter to ever live. She was a pioneer of the sport, becoming the first woman to compete in the UFC, the first woman world champion in the UFC, and skyrocketed to become arguably the biggest star in MMA at her peak.
After her MMA career stopped when she dropped a couple of fights in a row, she seamlessly jumped over to the WWE and used her star power to become the first woman to main event at WrestleMania.
Brock Lesnar
World Champion In WWE And UFC
- He became WWE champion at WrestleMania 19 when he defeated Kurt Angle.
- He started his career in combat sports as a collegiate wrestler at the University of Minnesota, winning an NCAA national championship.
- He defeated Randy Couture to become the UFC heavyweight champion in just his third professional MMA fight.
Brock Lesnar is one of the most legendary combat sports athletes of all time. He shot into superstardom in his mid-twenties in the WWE, using his unbelievable physicality and athleticism, paired with his personality on the microphone, and became a WWE champion, headlining PPV events.
After his star power started fizzling out in the WWE, he decided to test his luck in MMA and was discovered by Dana White. He signed with the UFC after just one pro MMA fight in a regional promotion and became the world heavyweight champion two fights later.
Paige VanZant
Superstar Potential In Both Worlds
- Signed to the UFC at 20 years old.
- Signed with AEW after being released by the UFC in 2020.
Vanzant started her MMA career at a young age and was thrown to the best in the world by the time she was 21 years old. She started her UFC career with a four-fight win streak, but fizzled out when she started reaching the top of the strawweight division.
After being released by the UFC in 2020, she used her star power and popularity on social media to launch a wrestling career. She appeared multiple times on AEW shows and was officially signed to the company at the beginning of 2022. She made her debut in May 2022.
Matt Riddle
WWE Tag-Team Champion
- Competed on the 7th season of The Ultimate Fighter.
- Signed with the UFC in 2008.
- Became WWE tag-team champion alongside Randy Orton.
After a promising start to his MMA career and some big wins in the UFC, Riddle was popped with a positive test for Marijuana and parted ways with the company in 2013.
He ended up shifting his focus to professional wrestling, competing on regional circuits for four years, and then got an opportunity with WWE’s developmental brand, NXT. He then made his way onto the main roster and became the WWE tag-team champion with future Hall of Famer Randy Orton as his partner.
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Junior Dos Santos
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Dabbled In Pro Wrestling
- UFC world heavyweight champion and has the longest winning streak in UFC heavyweight history (9).
- Started making appearances for AEW, alongside his American Top Team teammates, including Paige Vanzant.
Potential future UFC Hall of Famer, Junior dos Santos had a very successful MMA career. He put together the longest winning streak in UFC heavyweight history and won the world title. After retiring and parting ways with the UFC, dos Santos tested the waters of the AEW ring alongside some of his American Top Team teammates. He won a six-man tag match on October 15, 2021, on AEW Rampage.
Ken Shamrock
The OG Of Pro Wrestling And MMA Crossover
- One of the first athletes to crossover between MMA and pro wrestling.
- Won many titles between the WWF, SAPW, BCW, and NWA in pro wrestling.
- UFC Hall of Fame inductee and former UFC Superfight champion with two title defenses.
Shamrock walked so that everybody else on this list could run. He was a pivotal piece for both professional wrestling and the UFC during his time as a combat sports athlete. He was a major part in the first few UFC events, making the final at the UFC 3 tournament, putting on a 36-minute fight with Royce Gracie, and being a Superfight champion.
He was also a superstar in the WWF, having feuds with guys like The Rock, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and The Undertaker during the Attitude Era. Shamrock is one of the most important superstars in all of sports entertainment history.
CM Punk
WWE Legend Who Wasn’t A Good Fit In The UFC
- Punk has a long list of accomplishments in professional wrestling; including numerous regional championships, AEW world titles, WWE world titles, and more.
- He signed with the UFC and made his debut at UFC 203 against Mickey Gall in the welterweight division.
CM Punk is a legend of pro wrestling and is surely going to be a Hall of Fame inductee for the WWE. He won multiple world titles on AEW, ECW, and WWE. His resume is jarring to look through, and he has inspired countless people to pursue their dreams.
After being one of the biggest stories of the year at UFC 203, his debut against Mickey Gall did not pan out the way he would have wanted it to. It was clear that his skills were not ready for that stage of MMA, and it was upsetting to see for a lot of MMA fans. With that being said, he brought a lot of attention to the sport and did something that not many people can say they could do.
Dan Severn
NWA World Champion And UFC Hall Of Famer
- UFC Hall of Fame inductee and highly decorated martial artist.
- NWA Hall of Fame inductee and world champion.
The most impressive resume on this list might belong to Dan Severn. He is a Hall of Fame wrestler at Arizona State University, a three-time Olympian, a UFC champion and Hall of Famer, and has won countless championships at many pro wrestling shows.
Severn won an NWA world heavyweight championship and put together a Hall of Fame career, but his WWF/WWE career never panned out. He had some memorable moments while feuding with Ken Shamrock in the WWF, but ultimately, the talent in the company feared him, and the plans that Vince McMahon had for him never worked out.
Bobby Lashley
A WWE Champion And A Bellator Standout
- Won two heavyweight titles in regional MMA promotions and accumulated a professional MMA record of 15-2 with 12 finishes. He was 5-0 with 5 finishes while fighting for Bellator MMA from 2014-2016.
- Won the AEW World Tag Team Championship with Shelton Benjamin, the ECW World Championship twice, and the WWE Championship twice.
Lashley is one of the most underrated entertainers in pro wrestling history, and he had an impressive MMA skill set that many of today’s MMA fans don’t know about. Even when he was beginning to look like a legit contender in Bellator MMA, Lashley retired from the sport to pursue being the best he can in pro wrestling.
He became the WWE champion after defeating The Miz in a lumberjack match on RAW in March 2021.
Shayna Baszler
She Is A Former WWE NXT Women’s Champion
- She competed on The Ultimate Fighter and lost a fight to future two-time world champion Julianna Pena, and then signed with the UFC and went 0-2 before being released. One of the losses was to the greatest of all time, Amanda Nunes.
- After retiring from MMA, she went on to win an NXT Women’s Championship and a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.
Even though Baszler’s MMA career didn’t pan out, and she got unlucky by facing some of the best fighters in the world early in her career, she experienced a lot of success in pro wrestling. She used her big personality and unique look to rise in the rankings through regional shows and then get an opportunity on NXT.
Baszler ended up being a two-time NXT women’s champion and a three-time WWE tag team champion, with one of those titles being won with Ronda Rousey as her partner. Rousey was the one who picked her for her team during The Ultimate Fighter.
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