MMA fighters who could make it in pro wrestling

While many pro wrestlers are going to mixed martial arts, the possibility of an MMA fighter venturing into a pro wrestling ring is far and few between.  Legends such as Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn were the first two to make the move back in the late nineties, though they would eventually return to MMA.

Here are some MMA fighter who would make it big in pro wrestling


Randy Couture

Couture a legend in mixed martial arts and a film star, would be embraced by pro wrestling fans.  His mat wrestling and grappling expertise would be something that could help him inside of the squared circle.

Although Couture is over 40, pro wrestling is also a business where age is not really an issue.  As long as Couture could keep up with the schedule, he would do just fine in major wrestling organizations.

Tito Ortiz

Ortiz is guy fans will either love or hate.  He is also a great wrestler and his hitting is both powerful and articulate.  He also has some prior wrestling experience with refereeing in TNA.

Ortiz is also a fighter who knows when bring emotion and tell a story in a fight, which is a necessity in the ring.  His trash talking could also produce some great promos.






Chuck Liddell

Like Couture and Ortiz, Liddell is one of the faces that brought mixed martial arts into the mainstream.  His dirty boxing could bring something new to pro wrestling, while his name alone could draw pay per view buys, similar to how Lesnar’s name generated new pay per view buys for UFC.

Although his fight career could be over, Liddell may find a future in a wrestling ring.  Again, age is not an issue when it comes to the ring.

Frank Mir

While Mir has a great ground game and his boxing has improved, he could come into the WWE and turn heads by saying,” I made Brock Lesnar submit.” 

His victory over Lesnar may get him fans who despised the former WWE champion after he left pro wrestling to try out for football.  Fans may also be drawn to Mir because of his inspiring story of coming back to fighting after his motorcycle accident.

Matt Hughes

Hughes is a great wrestler and also has power to perform power moves like a body slam or a suplex.  While Hughes has his own abilities, he also has a personality of an average country guy who likes to hunt and loves his family.

While this might have been boring during the late nineties, Hughes’ personality may fit well as a face, or even as a heel, due to the WWE’s PG rated format.




Sarah Kaufman

While Christane Santos may have the athletic ability, Kaufman has the look of a woman pro wrestler.  Her smiling personality mixed in with her beast-like personality in the ring, could help her fit in with the WWE Divas or TNA knock outs.

Kaufman is from Canada, which is known for producing many pro wrestling superstars

Lyoto Machida

Machida’s kicks and style is similar to legend Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat.  He also has the technical skill that could make for some great matches

Machida would most likely be seen as a face, however his recent title matches with Marcio “Shogun” Rua may earn some animosity from fans.






Quinton Jackson

Like Ortiz, Jackson has some prior experience with pro wrestling, though he was just a guest host on WWE’s Raw to promote the A-Team movie.  Nevertheless, Jackson has more raw power than most fighters, and this could help him rise in the ranks, particularly in the WWE, which is known for pushing the big men.

Jackson also has an everyman type of look that a lot of fans could relate to and embrace. 

Jason Miller

Though he is a smaller guy, Miller is known for having for having a big mouth and for taking the fights to the distance.  His Bully Beatdown show on MTV may also help get him fans.

If his pro wrestling entrances are anything like his Strikeforce entrance in his fight against Jake Shield, they would be fun to look at, especially for the cheerleaders.

The Nogueira Brothers (Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” and Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro”)

In an age where good pro wrestling tag teams are not as recognized in the big organizations as years before, Minotauro and Minotoro could easy go through tag teams with their power and could draw fans from all over the world. 

A lot of great tag teams are made up of family members: Hart Foundation, Brisco Brothers, and the Hardyz just to name a few.


Other fighters who could be wrestlers

Forrest Griffin - All around good fighter who the fans could fall in love with.  Forrest vs. Tito 3 at Wrestlemania?

Frank Shamrock - his brother Ken did all right, and he did make an appearance at Wrestlemania.

Meisha Tate - Another fighter who could make it in the Diva’s division.

Fedor - Couture and Fedor at Wrestlemania?


Other links:


UFC official website

WWE official website

TNA wrestling website

Are there any fighters that I missed?  Shoot me an email, or add a comment and let me know