Comparison of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts

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

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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.

Rivalry

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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]

MMA records of professional wrestlers

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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
Tank Abbott   USA 10 15 0
Peter Aerts   NLD 1 2 0
Aaron Aguilera   USA 0 1 0
Akebono   USA/  JPN 0 4 0 [9]
Schuyler Andrews   USA 2 1 0
Yoji Anjo   JPN 0 5 1 [10]
Shinya Aoki   JPN 47 10 1 [11]
Andrei Arlovski   Belarus 34 21 2
Ricardo Arona   BRA 14 5 0
Josh Barnett   USA 35 8 0
Phil Baroni   USA 16 19 0 [12]
Dave Bautista   USA 1 0 0
Iouri Bekichev   RUS 2 5 0
Dave Beneteau   CAN 6 5 1
Dieusel Berto   Haiti 0 3 0
Scott Bigelow   USA 0 1 0
Tariel Bitsadze   Georgia 7 6 0
Dan Bobish   USA 17 9 0
Stephan Bonnar   USA 15 9 0
William Brenneman   USA 0 1 0
Canek   MEX 1 0 0
Dos Caras Jr.   MEX 9 6 0
Anthony Carelli   CAN/  ITA 0 1 0
Tim Catalfo   USA 4 2 0
Hong-man Choi   South Korea 4 5 0
Mitch Clarke   CAN 11 5 0
Mark Coleman   USA 16 10 0
Mirko Cro Cop   Croatia 38 11 3
Eric Esch   USA 17 10 1
Don Frye   USA 20 9 1
Katsuhisa Fujii   JPN 9 18 1 [13]
Kazuyuki Fujita   JPN 18 14 0 [14]
Takaku Fuke   JPN 16 30 5
Masakatsu Funaki   JPN 40 13 2 [15]
Jack Gallagher   UK 2 0 0
Matt Ghaffari   IRN/  USA 0 1 0
Rodney Glunder   NLD 25 20 3 [16]
Gary Goodridge   Trinidad and Tobago 23 22 1
Gerard Gordeau   NLD 2 2 0 [17]
Sotir Gotchev   Bulgaria 3 3 0
Daniel Gracie   BRA 5 4 1
Renzo Gracie   BRA 14 7 2
Rolles Gracie Jr.   BRA 8 4 0
Sam Greco   AUS 3 1 1
Jake Hager   USA 3 0 1
Tony Halme   FIN 0 4 0
Volk Han   RUS 21 8 1
Lee Hasdell   ENG 13 16 0 1
Satoshi Hasegawa   JPN 12 17 2
Chris Haseman   AUS 20 17 3 0
Satoshi Honma   JPN 4 6 3
Tom Howard   USA 0 8 0
Mark Hunt   NZL 13 14 1
Shoichi Ichimiya   JPN 0 2 1
Mikhail Ilyukhin   RUS 30 11 1
Masakazu Imanari   JPN 39 22 2
Egan Inoue   JPN 13 8 0
Enson Inoue   JPN 12 8 0
Satoshi Ishii   JPN 25 12 1
Quinton Jackson   USA 38 14 0
Dylan James   New Zealand 0 1 0
Brian Johnston   USA 5 5 0
Nathan Jones   AUS 0 1 0
Reuben de Jong   NZ 2 0 0
Nobuaki Kakuda   JPN 0 1 0
Georgi Kandelaki   Georgia 2 2 0
Masahito Kakihara   JPN 1 0 0
Nobuaki Kakuda   JPN 0 1 0
Rob Kaman   NLD 1 0 0
Hiromitsu Kanehara   JPN 19 27 5
Aleksandr Karelin   RUS 1 0 0
Kid Kash   USA 0 1 0
Kendo Kashin   JPN 1 4 1
Joop Kasteel   NLD 19 13 0 1
Yusuke Kawaguchi   JPN 18 12 0
Ryo Kawamura   JPN 19 11 4
Mark Kerr   USA 15 11 0
David Khakhaleishvili   Georgia 1 2 0
Changpuek Kiatsongrit   Thailand 0 0 1
Katsuya Kitamura   JPN 0 1 0
Kōji Kitao   JPN 1 2 0
Yuki Kondo   JPN 64 38 9
Masayuki Kono   JPN 3 5 0
Andrei Kopylov   Russia 5 10 0
Tsuyoshi Kosaka   JPN 28 21 2
Emil Kristev   Bulgaria 1 3 0
Viktor Kruger   Austria 0 1 0
Glenn Kulka   CAN 2 1 0
Yujiro Kushida   JPN 6 0 2
Bobby Lashley   USA 15 2 0
Muhammed Lawal   USA 21 6 1
Tom Lawlor   USA 11 8 1
Jérôme Le Banner   FRA 3 3 0
Dave Legeno   ENG 4 3 0
Brock Lesnar   USA/  CAN 5 3 1
Jushin Thunder Liger   JPN 0 1 0
Gene Lydick   USA 1 2 0
Rodney Mack   USA 1 1 0
Brian Mailhot   USA 1 0 0
Carl Malenko   USA 6 4 0
Andre Mannaart   NLD 0 3 1
Daijiro Matsui   JPN 12 28 6
Justin McCully   USA 11 5 2
Taka Michinoku   JPN 0 1 0
Ikuhisa Minowa   JPN 64 42 8
Nick Mitchell   USA 0 1 0
Kazushi Miyamoto   JPN 0 1 0
Toshiyuki Moriya   JPN 4 3 0
Takehiro Murahama   JPN 3 4 1
Kazunari Murakami   JPN 5 5 0
Mitsuya Nagai   JPN 4 7 0
Shinsuke Nakamura   JPN 3 1 0
Tatsuo Nakano   JPN 0 3 0
Yuichiro Nagashima   JPN 4 3 0
Yuji Nagata   JPN 0 2 0
Yasuhito Namekawa   JPN 25 16 4
Masayuki Naruse   JPN 9 14 0
Steve Nelson   USA 3 3 0
Don Nakaya Nielsen   USA 0 1 0
José Luis Alvarado Nieves   MEX 0 1 0
Jan Nortje   ZAF 2 6 0
Giant Ochiai   JPN 3 3 2
Naoya Ogawa   JPN 7 2 0
Sean O'Haire   USA 4 2 0
Hajime Ohara   JPN 11 3 0
Michiyoshi Ohara   JPN 0 2 0
Tito Ortiz   USA 21 12 1
Alexander Otsuka   JPN 5 13 0
Alistair Overeem   NLD 47 19 1
Valentijn Overeem   NLD 32 34 0
Erik Paulson   USA 11 4 2
Willie Peeters   NLD 9 10 1
Craig Pittman   USA 2 2 0
Mike Polchlopek   USA 1 1 0
Daniel Puder   USA 8 0 0
CM Punk   USA 0 1 1
Kevin Randleman   USA 17 16 0
Herman Renting   NLD 1 3 0
Jeremiah Riggs   USA 7 7 0
Matthew Riddle   USA 8 3 2
Shannon Ritch   USA 58 89 4
Ricco Rodriguez   USA 54 27 1
Rene Rooze   NLD 5 2 0
Bas Rutten   NLD/  USA 28 4 1
Kazushi Sakuraba   JPN 26 15 1
Kazuo Sakurada   JPN 0 1 0
Yukio Sakaguchi   JPN 6 7 1
Wataru Sakata   JPN 11 14 0
Naoki Sano   JPN 0 4 0
Junior dos Santos   BRA 21 10 0
Bob Sapp   USA 11 16 0
Kensuke Sasaki   JPN 2 0 0
Masaaki Satake   JPN 1 8 1
Hikaru Sato   JPN 24 23 4
Takeshi Sato   JPN 0 0 1
Munenori Sawa   JPN 0 1 0
Bob Schrijber   NLD 20 17 1
Billy Scott   USA 3 4 0
Gzim Selmani   NLD 4 2 0
Dolgorsürengiin Serjbüdee   MNG 1 0 0
Adrian Serrano   USA 56 29 4
Dan Severn   USA 101 19 7
Frank Shamrock   USA 23 10 2
Ken Shamrock   USA 28 17 2
Katsuyori Shibata   JPN 4 11 1
Akira Shoji   JPN 14 17 5
Paulo Cesar Silva   BRA 2 6 0
August Smisl   Austria 0 1 0
Elvis Sinosic   AUS 8 11 2
Peter Smit   NLD 0 1 0
Maurice Smith   USA 14 14 0
Joe Son   South Korea 0 4 0
Chael Sonnen   USA 31 17 0
Krzysztof Soszynski   Poland 26 12 1
Sergei Sousserov   Russia 2 8 0
Eric Spicely   USA 13 9 0
Takashi Sugiura   JPN 1 3 0
Mitsuhisa Sunabe   JPN 29 11 4
Shinichi Suzukawa   JPN 2 4 0
Minoru Suzuki   JPN 30 20 0
Tim Sylvia   USA 31 10 0 [18]
Nobuhiko Takada   JPN 2 6 2
Kazuo Takahashi   JPN 30 28 3 1
Yoshihiro Takayama   JPN 1 4 0
Oleg Taktarov   RUS 17 5 2
Kiyoshi Tamura   JPN 44 19 3
Sylvester Terkay   USA 3 1 0
Elias Theodorou   CAN 19 3 0
Oli Thompson   ENG 21 16 0
Sander Thonhauser   NED 11 9 1
Mick Tierney   IRE 0 6 0
Zaza Tkeshelashvili   Georgia 9 6 0
Frank Trigg   USA 21 9 0 [19]
Nobuhiro Tsurumaki   JPN 1 14 0
Ryuki Ueyama   JPN 12 18 5
Caol Uno   JPN 34 22 5
Kozo Urita   JPN 14 12 4
Bart Vale   USA 1 2 0
Paul Varelans   USA 9 9 0 [20]
Cain Velasquez   USA 14 3 0
Dick Vrij   NLD 7 7 1
Takuya Wada   JPN 20 9 11
Wakashoyo   JPN 0 6 1
James Warring   USA 2 1 0
Yuichi Watanabe   JPN 6 3 0
Ron Waterman   USA 16 6 2
Vernon White   USA 26 33 2
Willy Wilhelm   NLD 1 1 0
Pete Williams   USA 12 6 0
Steve Williams   USA 0 1 0
Willie Williams   USA 9 4 0
Tadao Yasuda   JPN 2 4 0
Kenichi Yamamoto   JPN 5 12 2
Naofumi Yamamoto   JPN 0 1 0
Yoshihisa Yamamoto   JPN 14 25 1
Yamato Onodera   JPN 0 2 0
Ryūshi Yanagisawa   JPN 24 25 9
Keita Yano   JPN 0 1 0
Toru Yano   JPN 0 1 0
Emmanuel Yarbrough   USA 1 2 0
Yoshiaki Yatsu   JPN 0 2 0
Hirotaka Yokoi   JPN 11 5 0
Hawk Younkins   USA 0 1 0
Gilbert Yvel   NLD 40 16 1
Nikolai Zouev   RUS 1 4 0

Women

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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

References

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  1. ^ Barthes, Roland (1957). "The World Of Wrestling". Mythologies. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
  2. ^ Hanstock, Bill (November 12, 2017). "An MMA Fighter Won A Fight With A Shoot Dragon Sleeper". Uproxx.com. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  3. ^ Michael McAvennie (2003). "WWE The Yearbook: 2003 Edition". Pocket Books. p. 200.
  4. ^ Spade, Bobby (September 2, 2008). "Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture". NoDQ.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
  5. ^ Ordoñez, Milan (December 19, 2017). "Jim Ross: Fans are 'jonesing' for Lesnar's UFC return because MMA is lacking superstars right now". Bloody Elbow Magazine. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  6. ^ Gerweck, Steve. "Bobby Lashley wins MMA title in Lubbock". Gerweck.net. Archived from the original on December 7, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  7. ^ "TNA Impact Wrestling Results (8/11): Damien Sandow TNA Debut, Titles Vs. Title, Lashley Vs. Storm".
  8. ^ Burke, Tim (Dec 18, 2017). "Daniel Cormier disses pro wrestling spots, gets into Twitter beef with Cody Rhodes". Bloody Elbow Magazine. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  9. ^ Akebono Sherdog profile
  10. ^ Yoji Anjo Sherdog profile
  11. ^ Shinya Aoki Sherdog profile
  12. ^ Phil Baroni Sherdog profile
  13. ^ Katsuhisa Fujii Sherdog profile
  14. ^ Kazuyuki Fujita Sherdog profile
  15. ^ Masakatsu Funaki Sherdog profile
  16. ^ "Rodney Glunder – Sherdog". Sherdog.
  17. ^ "Gerard Gordeau – Sherdog". Sherdog.
  18. ^ Tim Sylvia Sherdog profile
  19. ^ Frank Trigg Sherdog profile
  20. ^ "Paul Varelans – Sherdog". Sherdog.
  21. ^ Melissa Cervantes Sherdog profile
  22. ^ Sherdog.com. "Jeslen Mishelle Saenz MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography - Sherdog.com". Sherdog. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  23. ^ "Desi Derata wins first MMA fight | | Squared Circle Sirens". Retrieved 2021-01-04.