8 WWE wrestlers who have trained and fought in MMA
Brock Lesnar is well known for his MMA prowess
Over the years, the worlds of Pro-wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts have learnt to more than just coexist with one another, with performers often making the jump from one world to another.
To have a performer who is conditioned in a certain way and to put him in front of totally different parameters, could easily mean career suicide, but not when it comes to the combative worlds of pro wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts.
The techniques used by performers in both of these forms are extremely different and yet have something similar about them.
For example, the chokeholds applied in Mixed Martial Arts is used by pro-wrestlers in different ways under different names. The Coquina Clutch applied by Samoa Joe is a safer version of the rear naked choke applied by MMA fighters such as Mickey Gall and Nate Diaz.
Similarly, the Hell's Gate submission move used by The Undertaker becomes Gogoplata in MMA which is used by various fighters. Sure, The Undertaker does not intend to have his opponent pass out to the submission manoeuvre, but in MMA, the rule of thumb is to apply force until your opponent taps out.
That could mean more things than one. And one of those possibilities is that the training for both MMA and pro-wrestling could have some similar elements.
The vast number of crossover participants in both promotions only go to support this claim. Thus, today, we're going to bring to you 7 WWE wrestlers who have trained in MMA.
#1 Dave Bautista
Dave Bautista after winning his first MMA fight
To start off with the most obvious ones, we picked up our boy Batista of Evolution fame. The Animal has more than proven his prowess in the WWE, having had multiple championship runs. Batista seemed to have a connection with the audiences, despite his limited in-ring capabilities.
Also read: 5 pro-wrestlers who could beat Brock Lesnar in an MMA fight
Owing to his large stature and fitness, one wouldn't be all that surprised to know that Dave Bautista jumped into the world of MMA back in 2012 when he signed a contract with Classic Entertainment & Sports.
In preparation for this, Dave earned himself a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under the mentorship of Cesar Gracie. He was supposed to face Rashid Evans (not Suga!) before Evans was sent to jail for a probationary violation. His replacement opponent was thankfully a washed up 40-year-old veteran.