Last Updated on March 15, 2024 by Avik Das
Professional wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts are two popular hand to hand combat sports in the world, other than boxing of course. However, Professional Wrestling is not considered a legit sport because it’s pre-determined, unlike MMA. Professional Wrestling fights are rehearsed, and it has a striking difference from actual hand-to-hand combat sports, which is a reason WWE calls their product Sports Entertainment.
While WWE is the market leader of Professional Wrestling, the same applies to UFC in terms of MMA. There are various renowned MMA promotions in the world, but UFC is the popular place to compete. Conor MacGregor, Ronda Rousey, Khabib, Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, and many more world-famous MMA fighters have competed in UFC.
As WWE hires athletes with different backgrounds, MMA isn’t an exception. There were a handful of MMA fighters who jumped ship from UFC to WWE. On the other hand, there were also vice verse instances as well when WWE Superstars showed courage and decided to enter the UFC cage.
In this article, we talk a look at five such former or present WWE Superstars who competed in UFC.
#5 CM Punk
CM Punk had a bitter ending of his WWE career when he was fired by the company on his wedding day. Nevertheless, he enjoyed an outstanding run in his WWE career, winning the World Title four times. He was also the longest-reigning WWE Champion of the modern era. He was over as heel or babyface, and he was certainly one of the influential names to emerge from the PG Era. Given his success in WWE, Punk was a household name when he left WWE.
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Punk decided to try his hands in MMA, and he went right in the biggest MMA promotion in the world, UFC. The Chicago native didn’t have any fighting experience in the real sport, so it was a herculean task for him to learn and adapt to MMA in his late 30s. Although he signed for the company in 2014, his debut UFC match took place two years later at UFC 203, where he faced Mickey Gall. Being a novice in the MMA world, Gall was a mismatch for him, who held a black belt in BJJ. Punk was humiliated in less than three minutes by Rear Naked Choke. His next UFC fight happened two years later at UFC 225. Punk faced Mike Jackson, who also held a similar record as Punk in UFC. Even though Punk showed grit in his second fight, Jackson dominated the match, handing Punk his second UFC loss. Seeing Punk’s inability to compete in an elite promotion like UFC, Dana White released him.
#4 Shayna Baszler
Before Shayna Baszler signed for WWE, she was an MMA fighter. As a matter of fact, she wrestled for UFC a handful of times. The friendship between Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler bonded in UFC, where she was part of Team Rousey. Baszler’s UFC career lasted two years, as she signed for the company in 2013 and got released in 2015. She fought in four UFC fights, including at UFC Fight Night. Out of her four fights, she won only once. Baszler even faced the current UFC Women’s Champion, Amanda Nunes, in her final UFC fight.
Right after leaving UFC, she turned her focus towards professional wrestling, and she got hired by WWE two years later in 2017. Comparatively, she found more success in WWE. Being part of NXT, Baszler won the NXT Women’s Championship twice in her career, making her the woman with the most combined titles reigns with the title. After getting drafted to the main roster, she won the Women’s Tag Team Titles twice.
#3 Ronda Rousey
While Ronda Rousey was part of WWE a couple of years ago, she gained her popularity in UFC. Like Conor MacGregor in the men’s division, Rousey was the most popular fighter of the women’s division when she was part of the company. Rousey put the UFC Women’s Championship on the map, becoming the first woman to win the title. Being a fighting champion, Rousey defended the belt against six other women successfully until tasting her first loss against Holly Holm. After fighting Holm, Rousey came back again to fight Amanda Nunes, but she lost the match as well, making it her final UFC match. Meanwhile, before her UFC career, Rousey won an Olympic medal in Judo.
Rousey signed for WWE in 2018, making her one of the biggest acquisitions from UFC. Rousey had a stupendous one-year career in WWE. She not only won the RAW Women’s Championship but became one of the first women to main event WrestleMania. Presently, Ronda Rousey WWE is still active, and it is unclear when she is going to make her in-ring return.
#2 Ken Shamrock
Ken Shamrock was one of the greatest fighters in the UFC when the promotion was at the beginning of the business in the early 90s. In fact, Shamrock was part of UFC 1, which was the inaugural edition of their pay-per-view, where he fought his MMA arch-rival Royce Gracie. They eventually had a couple of more fights. He also had a great rivalry with Tito Ortiz in the Octagon years later. Shamrock was the first inductee in the UFC Hall of Fame, and he was known as ‘The World’s Dangerous Man’ in the prime days of his UFC career.
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Besides UFC, he was also part of WWE, wrestling for the company in the Attitude Era. He was a noteworthy mid-card name in the star-studded Attitude Era, and he made his debut on WWE RAW in 1997. The Rock, Shawn Michaels, The British Bull Dog, Vader, and Owen Hart were some big names he faces in the squared circle. Shamrock won the WWE King of the Ring tournament in 1998. Furthermore, he also captured the Intercontinental Championship once and the Tag Team Championship once.
#1 Brock Lesnar
One of the gigantic names and all-around athletes to grace the WWE ring, Brock Lesnar has conquered everywhere, whether in the squared circle or the octagon. WWE signed Lesnar in the developmental brand in 2000, but he was an accomplished amateur wrestler before pursuing to be a professional wrestler. He was an NCAA Division I Champion, who had an impeccable record of 106-5. With his imposing physique, The Next Big Thing made an instant impact after making his debut in 2002. He didn’t take long to climb up to the main event scene, and he won the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 19. In the first stint of his WWE career, he won the WWE Champion belt four times in just two years. He secured victories over big names like Kurt Angle, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, and many more.
After leaving WWE, he tried his hands in other sports until deciding to be an MMA fighter, given he was a legit athlete with an impressive amateur wrestling background. Lesnar signed for UFC in 2008. He won the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 91, becoming the first and only man to win the WWE World Championship and UFC Heavyweight Championship. He left UFC in 2011 and came back to professional wrestling in 2012. Since his return, he was part of WWE for eight years, while his last match was at WrestleMania 36. In between his WWE career, he also fought in UFC once in 2016. In his second WWE stint, The Beast Incarnate won the Universal Championship thrice and the WWE Championship once.
Avik Das is the founder of Sportsheed. He is a sports lover with broad knowledge of Professional Wrestling, MMA, Football, and Cricket. He has an English major and has previously written articles for various sports and entertainment websites
