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Comparison of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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]

Men

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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
Montanha Silva  BRA 2 7 0
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
George Weingeroff  USA 0 1 0
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.