Professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (also known as MMA) both combine grappling and strikes. In MMA, fights are competitions, in contrast to professional wrestling where the outcomes and moves performed are often scripted or predetermined. Despite this difference, several people have competed in both professional wrestling and MMA.
Comparison
Professional wrestling could be considered a performance art which combines athletics with theatrical performance. Matches are contested on a pre-determined basis, where the fight on display is merely for entertainment purposes. Viewers are integral to a professional wrestling match, as the audience is who the action is for. Professional wrestling mixes many styles of amateur wrestling, striking and showmanship to display a fight, whilst the two performers work together to achieve a "worked" fight. Professional wrestling was first popularized in 19th century Europe as a carnival attraction.
Mixed Martial Arts, is a hybrid of many types of physical full-contact sports; including wrestling, boxing and Martial Arts, such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The early 1990s saw the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) popularize the term "Mixed Martial Arts", for such a bout. Competitors in MMA are generally skilled in many different styles, however, it is possible to be only proficient in one type of combat. As some professional wrestling moves are simply worked versions of legitimate holds, there can be a crossover between the two.
Possibly the most successful crossover pro wrestler and MMA competitor is Brock Lesnar, who has won the world championships in both World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the UFC. Other wrestlers to have won world championships in both MMA and Pro Wrestling include Bobby Lashley (Shark Fights Heavyweight Championship as well as the Impact World Championship, the ECW World Championship and the WWE Championship), and UFC Hall of Famers Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock, who won the UFC Superfight Championship and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
Rivalry Since MMA's rise to prominence in the 1990s, some pro wrestlers or MMA fighters have been cynical against the other's profession. This can be an attack on the sport as a whole, or acting as a fan dismissing certain actions within that sport. In September of 2023, the WWE and UFC, the two most valuable combat sports-related promotions, began operating under TKO Group Holdings.
In Brazil, the criticism predates the existence of MMA. In a 1971 interview, Hélio Gracie criticized the professional wrestling program Telecatch on Brazilian television, which drew inspiration from American and Mexican pro wrestling, condemning its scripted and theatrical nature as a distortion of legitimate martial arts. Decades later, Hélio's grandson Rener Gracie married Eve Torres, a former WWE champion who also holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and serves as an instructor at the Gracie University.
MMA records of professional wrestlers Below is a list of professional wrestlers to have appeared in an official Mixed Martial Arts match, and their career win–loss record.
Men NameNationalityWLDRefTank Abbott10150Peter Aerts120Aaron Aguilera010Akebono/040Akebono Sherdog profileSchuyler Andrews210Yoji Anjo051Yoji Anjo Sherdog profileShinya Aoki47101Shinya Aoki Sherdog profileAndrei Arlovski34212Ricardo Arona1450Josh Barnett3580Phil Baroni16190Phil Baroni Sherdog profileDave Bautista100Iouri Bekichev250Dave Beneteau651Dieusel Berto030Scott Bigelow010Tariel Bitsadze760Dan Bobish1790Stephan Bonnar 1590William Brenneman010Canek100Dos Caras Jr.960Anthony Carelli/010Tim Catalfo420Hong-man Choi450Mitch Clarke1150Mark Coleman16100Mirko Cro Cop38113Eric Esch17101Don Frye2091Katsuhisa Fujii9181Katsuhisa Fujii Sherdog profileKazuyuki Fujita18140Kazuyuki Fujita Sherdog profileTakaku Fuke16305Masakatsu Funaki40132Masakatsu Funaki Sherdog profileJack Gallagher200Matt Ghaffari/010Rodney Glunder25203Gary Goodridge23221Gerard Gordeau220Sotir Gotchev 330Daniel Gracie541Renzo Gracie1472Rolles Gracie Jr.840Sam Greco311Jake Hager301Tony Halme040Volk Han2181Lee Hasdell131601Satoshi Hasegawa12172Chris Haseman201730Satoshi Honma463Tom Howard080Mark Hunt13141Shoichi Ichimiya021Mikhail Ilyukhin30111Masakazu Imanari39222Egan Inoue1380Enson Inoue1280Satoshi Ishii25121Quinton Jackson38140Dylan James010Brian Johnston550Nathan Jones010Reuben de Jong200Masahito Kakihara100Nobuaki Kakuda010Rob Kaman100Georgi Kandelaki220Hiromitsu Kanehara19275Aleksandr Karelin100Kid Kash010Kendo Kashin141Joop Kasteel191301Yusuke Kawaguchi18120Ryo Kawamura19114Mark Kerr15110David Khakhaleishvili120Changpuek Kiatsongrit001Katsuya Kitamura010Kōji Kitao120Yuki Kondo64389Masayuki Kono350Andrei Kopylov5100Tsuyoshi Kosaka28212Emil Kristev130Viktor Kruger010Glenn Kulka210Yujiro Kushida602Bobby Lashley1520Muhammed Lawal2161Tom Lawlor1181Jérôme Le Banner330Dave Legeno430Brock Lesnar/531Jushin Thunder Liger010Gene Lydick120Rodney Mack110Akira Maeda750Brian Mailhot100Carl Malenko640Andre Mannaart031Daijiro Matsui12286Justin McCully1152Taka Michinoku010Ikuhisa Minowa64428Frank Mir19130Nick Mitchell010Kazushi Miyamoto010Toshiyuki Moriya430Takehiro Murahama341Kazunari Murakami550Mitsuya Nagai470Shinsuke Nakamura310Tatsuo Nakano030Yuichiro Nagashima430Yuji Nagata020Yasuhito Namekawa25164Masayuki Naruse9140Steve Nelson330Don Nakaya Nielsen010José Luis Alvarado Nieves010Jan Nortje260Giant Ochiai332Naoya Ogawa720Sean O'Haire420Hajime Ohara1130Michiyoshi Ohara020Tito Ortiz21121Alexander Otsuka5130Alistair Overeem47191Valentijn Overeem32340Erik Paulson1142Willie Peeters9101Craig Pittman220Mike Polchlopek110Daniel Puder800CM Punk011Kevin Randleman17160Herman Renting130Jeremiah Riggs770Matthew Riddle832Shannon Ritch58894Ricco Rodriguez54271Rene Rooze520Bas Rutten/2841Kazushi Sakuraba26151Kazuo Sakurada010Yukio Sakaguchi671Wataru Sakata11140Naoki Sano040Junior dos Santos21100Bob Sapp11160Kensuke Sasaki200Masaaki Satake181Hikaru Sato24234Takeshi Sato001Munenori Sawa010Bob Schrijber20171Billy Scott340Gzim Selmani420Dolgorsürengiin Serjbüdee100Adrian Serrano56294Dan Severn101197Frank Shamrock23102Ken Shamrock28172Katsuyori Shibata4111Akira Shoji14175Montanha Silva270Paulo Cesar Silva260August Smisl010Elvis Sinosic8112Peter Smit010Maurice Smith14140Joe Son040Chael Sonnen31170Krzysztof Soszynski26121Sergei Sousserov280Eric Spicely1390Takashi Sugiura130Mitsuhisa Sunabe29114Shinichi Suzukawa240Minoru Suzuki30200Tim Sylvia31100Tim Sylvia Sherdog profileNobuhiko Takada262Kazuo Takahashi302831Yoshihiro Takayama140Oleg Taktarov1752Kiyoshi Tamura44193Sylvester Terkay310Elias Theodorou1930Oli Thompson21160Sander Thonhauser1191Mick Tierney060Zaza Tkeshelashvili960Frank Trigg2190Frank Trigg Sherdog profileNobuhiro Tsurumaki1140Ryuki Ueyama12185Caol Uno34225Kozo Urita14124Bart Vale120Paul Varelans990Cain Velasquez1430Dick Vrij771Takuya Wada20911Wakashoyo061James Warring210Yuichi Watanabe630Ron Waterman1662George Weingeroff010Vernon White26332Willy Wilhelm110Pete Williams1260Steve Williams010Willie Williams940Tadao Yasuda240Kenichi Yamamoto5122Naofumi Yamamoto010Yoshihisa Yamamoto14251Yamato Onodera020Ryūshi Yanagisawa24259Keita Yano010Toru Yano010Emmanuel Yarbrough120Yoshiaki Yatsu020Hirotaka Yokoi1150Hawk Younkins010Gilbert Yvel40161Nikolai Zouev140
Women NameNationalityWLDRefCarlos Amano100Reggie Bennett110Daria Berenato210Shayna Baszler15110Melissa Cervantes010Melissa Cervantes Sherdog profileJessamyn Duke350Esui220Emi Fujino25131Jazzy Gabert110Svetlana Goundarenko620Yoshiko Hirano210Yumiko Hotta 550Mai Ichii 450Chie Ishii 100Kaoru Ito 230Fuka Kakimoto210Shinobu Kandori410Syuri Kondo630Aya Koyama 4101Valerie Loureda 410Mika Nagano 18131Kaori Nakayama 020Michiko Omukai 100Jeslen Mishelle Saenz (aka Desi Derata)200Ronda Rousey1220Sexy Star210Sumie Sakai241Marina Shafir120Natsuki Taiyo010Yoko Takahashi15122Lei'D Tapa020Paige VanZant850Megumi Yabushita19230Yoko Yamada610
See also Combat sport History of professional wrestling List of mixed martial artists with professional boxing records List of multi-sport athletes Martial arts Sports entertainment
References