10 Pro Wrestlers Who Could Have Been Stars In The UFC
9. Shorty G
In truth, all of the WWE stars with NCAA wrestling backgrounds would have had a solid base for a potential MMA run. So folks like Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin, Jason Jordan could all be part of the list as well — though they would make for extremely redundant entries.
The reason Shorty G stands out amongst the previous names is his Olympic pedigree. This is because Olympic wrestlers have done extremely well in the sport of mixed martial arts.
Former gold medalist Henry Cejudo is the reigning UFC Bantam Weight Champ. Yoel Romero is a former silver medalist who has fought for the UFC middleweight strap on multiple occasions. Ben Askren, a 2008 summer games participant, is a former Bellator champion who was an undefeated mixed martial artist for over a decade.
Anyone whose seen Shorty G perform in a WWE ring knows he's a remarkable athlete. Unfortunately, he's been saddled with an awful gimmick that draws attention to his physical shortcomings (no pun intended), so now might be a good time to make a career change.
While 34 isn't an ideal age to begin an MMA career, the former Raw tag champ is a freak athlete with an elite grappling pedigree, so he could still have an impact.