5 Athletes You Never Knew Were MMA Fighters

3. Batista

Though he has now broken out in Hollywood thanks to roles in Guardians of the Galaxy and the upcoming Bond film Spectre, Batista (a.k.a. Dave Bautista) made a brief stop in the world of MMA along the way. Best known as a star of the WWE, where he was a member of Triple H's Evolution stable (after earlier working with Devon Dudley), and eventually becoming champion, Batista had a life-long love of MMA, and decided to give it a try. He was successful - up to a point. He won his first and only professional MMA fight in 2012, after training in jiu-jitsu and being awarded his purple belt under Cesar Gracie. His opponent, Vince Lucero, was a 40-fight journeyman, but a win is a win (which came via TKO in the first round). While there was talk of a second fight, it never came to be as his acting career exploded.