Olympic gold medalist wrestler Kyle Snyder answers whether he would ever do MMA
Olympic gold medalist wrestler Kyle Snyder talks to MMA Junkie about his upcoming match at RAF 9 and more
Kyle Snyder has long considered an MMA jump.
For years, the Olympic gold medalist in wrestling has been asked the questions of if, when, where, and who. After all this time, Snyder has seemingly come to a conclusion he’s content with. Sorry fight, fans. No dice.
“I did consider it,” Snyder recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “My first fight I ever had been to was in Cleveland. Stipe Miocic was the main event, and he knocked the dude out. The environment was so, so, so cool. So I was like, ‘Man, I want to do this at some point in my life.’ But since then, I’m still a fan. I’ve been to many UFC events. One of my good friends, Bo Nickal, he’s a fighter. So I was at UFC in New York in November watching him fight. I like the UFC, but I don’t think it’s in my plan to get in the octagon or anything like that. I think I’m going to be a wrestler and see what God wants me to do after that.”
In fact, Snyder said MMA is actually below boxing on his list. He couldn’t explain why, but something about perfecting a pure discipline seemed to intrigue him.
“Honestly, I feel like I’d rather box than do MMA,” Snyder said. “Just strict boxing, to me, is more appealing than mixed martial arts. I don’t know why that is. I can’t really say what it is. I think my love for wrestling and it being what I want to do until I physically can’t anymore. Lord willing, I’d like to wrestle until I’m 45 years old. At that point, it’s like, am I going to start doing MMA after that? Yoel (Romero) is doing it still, but he’s like a freak of nature. So I don’t know.”
The heavyweight division, particularly in 2026, could use stars. Snyder knows it. While the level of success he’d perhaps achieve in short order seems tempting, Snyder is fine cheering from the stands.
“Even (Josh) Hokit, he’s only weighing 225-230,” Snyder said. “To beat (Curtis) Blaydes in his early fights, that’s crazy. (Alex) Pereira is coming up from 185. I love it. I’m a fan. It’s fun to watch. I don’t think I’ll do it.”
Snyder, 30, doesn’t plan on slowing down on wrestling any time soon. He returns at RAF 9 on May 30 vs. Givi Matcharashvili. Snyder is 2-0 in the promotion with wins over Akhmed Tazhudinov and Rizabek Aitmukhan.
