5 UFC fighters who have appeared at WrestleMania
An increasing number of former UFC fighters seem to be taking part in WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania, each year. The most recent edition, which took place last weekend, saw four former UFC fighters take part. Even MMA's biggest star, Conor McGregor, was keeping a keen eye on the event.
Why wasn’t I at Wrestlemania? They all fear me, that’s why.
Pro-wrestling is an interesting career option for professional mixed martial artists who sadly often have limited options at the conclusion of their careers. There is clearly a significant crossover between the two worlds and fighters are able to take relatively little damage compared to life as a cage-fighter.
We have seen a number of fighters go on to achieve huge success in the WWE after leaving the octagon behind. Because of this, it would not be surprising if we continued to see fighters trying their hand at pro-wrestling in the future.
It remains to be seen which fighters are next to make the jump over to the WWE. Here are five UFC fighters who have appeared at WrestleMania:
#5. Matthew Riddle - former UFC welterweight
Matthew Riddle picked up the first WrestleMania win of his WWE career last week when he successfully defended the Raw Tag Team titles alongside Randy Orton. The pair defeated both the Street Profits and Alpha Academy in what was Riddle's second career bout at the grandest stage of them all.
It seems a long time ago now that Riddle was plying his trade inside the octagon. He competed in the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter and recorded seven victories in the organization before retiring. Were it not for Riddle testing positive for cannabis, he would've ended his UFC career on a four-fight win streak.
That’s former UFC castoff Matthew Riddle pulling off a pretty incredible move in a title match at WrestleMania. https://t.co/TtLDVvYSaq
His transition to the pro-wrestling world has been a very successful one, as his current title run would suggest. His only other WrestleMania appearance, however, was less successful when he lost the United States Championship to Sheamus at WrestleMania 37.