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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.
Professional wrestling could be considered a performance art which combines athletics with theatrical performance. [1] 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 the 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 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. [2]
Possibly the most successful crossover pro wrestler and MMA competitor is Brock Lesnar, who has won the world championships in both the WWE [3] and UFC. [4] [5] 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), [6] [7] and UFC Hall of Famers Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock, who won the UFC Superfight Championship and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
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. [8]
Below is a list of professional wrestlers to have appeared in an official Mixed Martial Arts match, and their career win–loss record.[ citation needed ]
| Name | Nationality | W | L | D | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Amano |  JPN | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Reggie Bennett |  USA | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Daria Berenato | USA | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Shayna Baszler | USA | 15 | 11 | 0 | |
| Melissa Cervantes |  MEX | 0 | 1 | 0 | [21] |
| Jessamyn Duke | USA | 3 | 5 | 0 | |
| Esui |  Mongolia | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Emi Fujino | JPN | 25 | 13 | 1 | |
| Jazzy Gabert |  GER | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Svetlana Goundarenko |  RUS | 6 | 2 | 0 | |
| Yoshiko Hirano | JPN | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Yumiko Hotta | JPN | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| Mai Ichii | JPN | 4 | 5 | 0 | |
| Chie Ishii | JPN | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kaoru Ito | JPN | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| Fuka Kakimoto | JPN | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Shinobu Kandori | JPN | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| Syuri Kondo | JPN | 6 | 3 | 0 | |
| Aya Koyama | JPN | 4 | 10 | 1 | |
| Valerie Loureda | USA | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| Mika Nagano | JPN | 18 | 13 | 1 | |
| Kaori Nakayama | JPN | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Michiko Omukai | JPN | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jeslen Mishelle Saenz (aka Desi Derata) | USA | 2 | 0 | 0 | [22] [23] |
| Ronda Rousey | USA | 12 | 2 | 0 | |
| Sexy Star | MEX | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Sumie Sakai | JPN | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
| Marina Shafir |  Moldova | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Natsuki Taiyo | JPN | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Yoko Takahashi | JPN | 15 | 12 | 2 | |
| Lei'D Tapa | USA | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Paige VanZant | USA | 8 | 5 | 0 | |
| Megumi Yabushita | JPN | 19 | 23 | 0 | |
| Yoko Yamada | JPN | 6 | 1 | 0 |
Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz is a retired American mixed martial artist and a former politician. Ortiz is best known for his stints with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, having held the title from April 14, 2000, to September 26, 2003. Along with fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, he was one of the sport's early stars. Ortiz ultimately became the biggest pay-per-view draw of 2006 for his fights with Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Ken Shamrock. On July 7, 2012, Ortiz became the ninth inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Brock Edward Lesnar is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, amateur wrestler, and professional American football player. As a professional wrestler, he is signed to WWE, however he is currently on hiatus from active competition. Often regarded as one of the most prolific combat sport athletes in the world, Lesnar is the only person to have won the primary heavyweight championships of WWE, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Ken Shamrock is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Ken Shamrock. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), WWE and other combat sports. An inaugural inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame, Shamrock is widely regarded as an icon and pioneer of the sport. He has headlined over 15 main events and co-main events in the UFC and Pride FC and set numerous MMA pay-per-view records. In the early part of his UFC career, Shamrock was named "The World's Most Dangerous Man" by ABC News in a special called "The World's Most Dangerous Things". The moniker has stuck as his nickname.
Randall Duane Couture is an American mixed martial arts commentator, actor, former United States Army sergeant, former professional mixed martial artist, and former collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestler. During his tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), he became a three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, an interim UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, making him a six-time UFC Champion and the UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament winner. He is the first of nine fighters to hold two UFC championship titles in two different divisions. He currently serves as a commentator and analyst for the Professional Fighters League.
Franklin Roberto Lashley, better known by his ring name Bobby Lashley, is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is an eight-time world champion, having been a two-time WWE Champion, two-time ECW World Champion, and a four-time Impact World Champion. Lashley is also known for his mixed martial arts career in Bellator MMA and Strikeforce.
Francisco Santos Mir, is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division. He formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for sixteen years, and Bellator MMA. A former UFC Heavyweight Champion, he holds the record for the most finishes and the most submission victories in UFC Heavyweight history. Mir possessed the longest uninterrupted tenure of any fighter in UFC history, competing for the company from 2001 to 2016. He was the first man to knock out and the first to submit Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Heath Herring is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division of Rizin. While perhaps best known for competing in PRIDE, he has also formerly competed for the UFC and K-1.
Joshua Lawrence Barnett is an American mixed martial artist, submission wrestler, professional wrestler, and color commentator currently signed to Bellator MMA. Barnett previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was the youngest-ever UFC Heavyweight Champion. Barnett was the final Openweight King Of Pancrase, a finalist in both the 2006 PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix and the 2012 Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship Grand Prix. He has also competed in Affliction, World Victory Road, DREAM and Impact FC.
UFC 77: Hostile Territory was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The event took place on Saturday, October 20, 2007, at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
UFC 81: Breaking Point was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held on February 2, 2008, by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip.
The Minnesota Martial Arts Academy is a martial arts training center in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. It was founded in 1992 by Greg Nelson, a former NCAA Division 1 wrestler at the University of Minnesota.
UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on November 15, 2008, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Cain Ramírez Velásquez is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist, currently appearing for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He is widely known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he competed in the heavyweight division and became a two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Shane Bannister Carwin is an American former mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. He is considered to be one of the hardest hitting athletes to ever fight in the UFC.
Matthew Fredrick Riddle is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. As of December 2023, he is signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW). He also makes sporadic appearances for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), where he is the current AAA Cruiserweight Champion in his first reign. He is best known for his tenures in the UFC and WWE.
Muhammed Lawal, also known as "King Mo", is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. As a mixed martial artist, he is a former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and Rizin Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion.
Jason Guida is a former American professional mixed martial artist who last competed for Bellator. A professional competitor from 2003 until 2014, he also fought for EliteXC, the WEC, KSW, Adrenaline MMA and World Extreme Fighting. Jason is the older brother of Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Clay Guida.
UFC 100 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on July 11, 2009, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 23, 2010, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, United States. The event was the fourth time the UFC hosted at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California following UFC 59, UFC 63, and UFC 76, and the sixth event held in the Greater Los Angeles Area, including UFC 60 and UFC 104.
