Combat sports and pro wrestling have been a center of interest for many years. People love sports involving story-telling, fighting, and expression of martial art skills. For an athlete to feature in a physical sport takes a lot of effort and hard work. This is why sport odds have such attractive offers.
Because of the similarities between UFC and pro wrestling, many fighters have switched from one sport to another. Some of them enjoyed success, while some had disappointing careers. There are many names that you will find in pro-wrestling who were once part of the UFC.
Many argue that pro-wrestling is for entertainment purposes only. Also, matches are scripted with rather fake moves as compared to the rival sport. This did not stop UFC fighters from signing a deal. Let’s look at some fighters who switched from octagon to square ring.
Ronda Rousey
It was breaking news when Ronda announced her contract with WWE. Ronda was a driving force in UFC. She was the first one to break the barriers for women to compete in the UFC. For six years, Ronda enjoyed her dominating career in the UFC as a bantamweight champion, but after her eighth fight, she quit MMA.
It was the perfect opportunity for WWE to sign a top, highly regarded, and champion fighter for its women’s division. Ronda made her debut in the main event of Wrestlemania and soon became the champion.
Brock Lesnar
Brock has been a prominent name in WWE for several years. He switched careers back and forth between WWE and UFC. Before his career in WWE, Brock was competing in collegiate wrestling and was an NCAA heavyweight champion. This brought him to WWE at the age of 26, and soon after his arrival, he started main-eventing and became the youngest WWE Champion.
After a few years, Brock decided to try combat fighting and joined the UFC. He lost his first fight against Frank Mir. By the end of his third, he not only avenged his loss but also became the UFC heavyweight champion. Brock returned to WWE in 2012 again and remained a contracted fighter for the UFC as well. He retired from UFC in 2016 and is now employed by WWE.
Matt Riddle
Riddle started his career in combat wrestling at a very young age. In 2008, he made his debut in UFC and won his first fight. Matt won five of the next six contests. His career was up and down throughout, and eventually, in 2013, he left the UFC.
After completing his training for professional wrestling, Riddle joined the WWE development program and became a part of WWE NXT. Within a few years, Riddle proved himself worthy enough to join the main roster. He is currently employed by WWE and enjoying a successful career.
Shayna Bazler
Shayna is a well-reputed name in combat wrestling. Before joining UFC, she was already competing in MMA for a long time. Her career in UFC was not a smooth ride and lasted for two years only. Shayna kept bouncing back and forth between WWE and UFC, eventually joining the WWE development program in 2017. Soon Shayna became the NXT Women Champion, and in 2020 joined the main WWE women’s roster.
Ken Shamrock
Ken is the pioneer of MMA fighters crossing over to pro wrestling. Among the first pioneers of MMA, the UFC Hall of Famer fought at UFC 1 in 1993. He had already wrestled in Japan prior to stepping into the cage. As Shamrock’s career progressed, he competed in Japan, UFC, and even WWE. His recent wrestling endeavor is in Impact Wrestling.
