One of the oldest debates in combat sports history is the one between MMA fans and professional wrestling fans. For the longest time, the MMA purists egged on the wrestling fans, claiming their ‘sport’ to be “fake”.
However, the truth remains that some of the biggest MMA stars are massive WWE fans.
From the likes of Chael Sonnen to Ronda Rousey, some of the biggest draws and entertaining fighters took inspiration from legendary professional wrestlers. Ronda borrowed the “Rowdy” nickname from Roddy Piper, while Conor McGregor has learnt the art of trash talk from former WWE Superstars.
With Brock Lesnar and CM Punk recently opening doors for WWE Superstars to venture into the world of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, people have started talking about the likes of Ronda and Conor jumping ships to WWE.
While Conor and Ronda would fit in perfectly, the same cannot be said about other famous UFC fighters. Today, we take a look at five of such fighters, who would fail miserably if they made a transition to WWE.
5. Daniel Cormier
The current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion is one of the best fighters on the planet. With Olympic level accomplishments, Daniel Cormier slammed and grounded his opponents en route to receiving a title shot in the UFC. It was then that DC finally met his match – the former UFC LHW Champion, Jon Jones.
Cormier is one of the biggest WWE fans; however, Jon Jones managed to get inside Cormier’s head leading up to their fight. While Cormier’s resume as a fighter is unparalleled, it is in the mental warfare where he has shown chinks in his armor.
Jon Jones and his fans took advantage of Cormier’s irritable nature, and managed to get under his skin on numerous occasions. One such instance came during the UFC Unstoppable press conference, where Daniel Cormier was visibly upset and taken aback by the fans siding with Jon Jones.
While Cormier is inherently a “face” in professional wrestling terms, he can be compared to Roman Reigns in WWE – a guy that is the champion, but isn’t accepted by the fans. Imagine Cormier standing in a wrestling ring, with 14,000 odd fans booing him; it is not possible to think of a more awkward situation for someone like Cormier to be in.
4. Alistair Overeem
Alistair Overeem is one of the most accomplished fighters in the fight game. With knees that would drop even a gorilla, Overeem has participated in numerous kickboxing and MMA events. “The Reem” recently came close to capturing the UFC Heavyweight Championship, but ultimately could not shake the monkey off his back.
Overeem, as experienced and lethal as he is, is known to crumble under pressure. When Overeem walked into Stipe Miocic’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, the fans weren’t going to let him off the hook easily. Overeem had to sit back and smile as the fans sang about his ‘glass chin’.
Overeem couldn’t masquerade his annoyance; while he had a smile on his face, his steely eyes told a different story. Overeem nearly finished Stipe in the first round, but ultimately, it was Miocic who rode on the support and got his hand raised by knocking Overeem out.
Overeem has all the credentials in the world to come to WWE; however, it is difficult for someone who cannot shake off the jeers to be successful in professional wrestling. If UFC 203 was anything to go by, Overeem is better off sticking with the UFC.
3. Georges St. Pierre
With his silky smooth transitions and effective submissions, Georges St. Pierre made a name for himself as one of the greatest mixed martial artists in the modern era. The former UFC Welterweight kingpin defended his title successfully on nine different occasions, and decided to retire from the sport while he was still at the top.
However, GSP decided to make his comeback in 2016 – something that did not go the way he would’ve wanted. GSP is arguably Canada’s most favorite athlete, and helped UFC - and thus MMA, foray into the country.
While GSP was known for his effective game plan and his ability to throw submissions from the most awkward predicaments, he wasn’t known for his verbal skills, or his ability to entertain the fans. GSP was pulled into a verbal joust leading up to UFC 158, where he faced one of the most popular UFC stars, Nick Diaz.
GSP did not exactly win the war of words, but put a methodical beatdown on Nick inside the cage. While no one questions GSP’s credentials as a fighter, inside a WWE ring and under the bright lights, it is hard to imagine GSP cutting promos, with thousands of eyes fixed firmly on him.
2. Anthony Pettis
When you make a highlight reel of knockouts and submissions in MMA, it is difficult to find a better highlight reel KO to place at the top, over Pettis’ “Showtime kick” that caught Benson Henderson. It can also be argued that his one KO propelled Pettis to uncharted territories at that point. Pettis became the poster boy for the UFC, and found himself on the Wheaties box.
While the past couple of years haven’t exactly been kind to Anthony, he remains as one of the most exciting fighters in the lower divisions. With a penchant for highlight reel finishes and a flair for the extraordinary, Pettis still remains as one of the most popular UFC fighters.
However, unlike his educated limbs and his ability to thrive under pressure inside a cage, Pettis isn’t exactly known to be a wizard over the microphone. Much like some of his counterparts at 145 and 155 lbs, Pettis has proved that he can walk the walk, but cannot talk the talk.
While Pettis lobbied for a fight with McGregor earlier this year, a verbal showdown between the ‘Notorious’ one and Pettis would’ve ended in McGregor verbally annihilating Pettis. Pettis has the looks and the talent to make it to WWE, but doesn’t have the verbal prowess to float safely in the shark tank.
1. Holly Holm
Under the bright lights at UFC 193, Holly Holm shocked the MMA world, when she defeated the undisputed queen of women’s MMA, Ronda Rousey. Overnight, Holly became a sensation – the media wanted to get a glimpse of her, while the fans couldn’t stop talking about her. With that victory, Holly became only the second UFC women’s bantamweight champion at the time.
Holly also became a darling in mainstream media. She did a couple of films and became the focal point of women’s MMA. However, her world came crashing down, when Miesha Tate defeated her during her very first title defense at UFC 200.
While Holly has all the attributes that would make her transition to WWE a relatively easy one, she doesn’t have the “it” factor that separates the good from the best. Holly Holm isn’t known for her verbiage either, which plays a key role in “getting over” in professional wrestling.
While the likes of Shayna Baszler have successfully made the transition to professional wrestling, one would have to believe that Holly Holm would underwhelm her fans in WWE.
