5 UFC fighters who have competed in the Royal Rumble

#4. CM Punk - former UFC welterweight

Punk has an MMA record of 0-1 (1NC)

CM Punk is unique in that his UFC career came after his run with the WWE. Punk competed in the WWE between 2005 and 2014 and was incredibly successful, winning the world heavyweight championship on three occasions.

Despite his success with the company, Punk has had mixed success in the six Royal Rumble matches he competed in. He never won the match and his best performance came in his last royal rumble in 2014 when he first entered the match and made it all the way to the final four.

He then tried his luck in the UFC but failed to pick up a win in either of his two fights with promotion. Since then Punk has continued to be involved in the MMA world as a commentator for the Cage Fury Fighting Championship and has returned to pro-wrestling with AEW.

---

#3. Shayna Baszler - former UFC bantamweight

Shayna Baszler has an MMA record of 15-11

Shayna Baszler is arguably yet to receive the credit she deserves for her time in both MMA and pro-wrestling. Baszler was a pioneer of women's MMA and earned quite the reputation for herself before being selected for The Ultimate Fighter.

Baszler suffered an upset loss to current UFC champion Julianna Pena on the show before dropping two more tough fights against Bethe Correia and Amanda Nunes. Those results put an end to her time in the UFC and after one more MMA fight, she transitioned to pro-wrestling and signed with the WWE in 2017.

Since then, she has become a two-time NXT women's champion and has competed in three Royal Rumble matches. While she is yet to win one, she has twice been the last entrant and was the runner-up to Charlotte Flair back in 2020.