8 Big Name MMA Fighters Who Tried Out Pro Wrestling

8. Tito Ortiz

Chris Pizzello/AP/Press Association ImagesChris Pizzello/AP/Press Association ImagesThe Huntington Beach Bad Boy is famous for all sorts of reasons. Husband (now ex) to the biggest porn star of her era. UFC champ. Part of one of the biggest MMA feuds in the sport's history with Ken Shamrock. The greatest light heavyweight champion in the UFC until Jon Jones came along and smashed his record. In short, Ortiz is a legend, but a divisive one, with more than his fare share of controversy. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that he continued that controversy by following Rampage Jackson to Bellator last year - and TNA Wrestling as well. That's right - Tito Ortiz joined the TNA roster. Now, there's a bit of a footnote here: Ortiz had made some appearances for TNA back in 2005, as a ref. So the groundwork was already there. Thus when Rampage joined up with TNA and Bellator, and Ortiz was scheduled to face Jackson on Bellator's debut PPV, it made sense to have them cross over between shows and get some buzz going. In August 2013 Ortiz showed up on TNA TV and joined Aces & Eights, in the process knocking out Bellator opponent Rampage Jackson. With a hammer. However, within weeks Ortiz was off TNA, and off the Bellator PPV with a neck injury. To date, that's the end of Ortiz's pro-wrestling career, thus his success has been rather muted.
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Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.