The Pro Wrestling vs. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) debate is one of the biggest in sports today. In terms of popularity, MMA was no match for pro wrestling years ago, thanks to competitions like WWE and TNT.
However, the creation of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 1993 changed everything, and since then, both sports have managed to amass a very large following. Even the UFC betting industry has become one of the world’s biggest.
Over the years, some WWE and UFC stars like Brock Lesnar, Gerard Gordeau, and Bobby Lashley have made the switch, with Bobby Lashley being one of the few wrestlers to have won a world championship in both sports. This has led many to draw comparisons between the two.
Here, we’ll look into some of the similarities and differences between pro wrestling and mixed martial arts.
Comparison of Professional Wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts
We’ll compare the two sports in terms of fighting styles, fight games, and the whole sport in general.
1. Fighting Styles
In terms of fighting style, MMA incorporates different full-contact sports like boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, karate, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Most professional MMA competitors are skilled in many fighting styles, but some do stick to one style. Pro wrestling, on the other hand, features lots of amateur wrestling and showmanship.
Despite the MMA being more intense than pro wrestling, they both require lots of training and physicality. Training helps them build up stamina and strength to fight for minutes and sometimes an hour.
2. Fight Time and Originality
A standard MMA fight is usually capped at 15 or 25 minutes, while a pro wrestling fight goes on until a winner emerges. The longest recorded pro wrestling fight was in the WWE and lasted 81 minutes. The fight was later ended with a curfew.
But in both sports, a knockout can see a game end in seconds; the 2019 UFC match between Jorge Masvidal and Ben Askren was 5 seconds long. It’s the shortest MMA match recorded and ended after Jorge Masvidal delivered an iconic knee knockout.
However, the major difference between the two sports is in the originality of the fights. Pro wrestling fights are predetermined, and the game’s outcome is known before the fight begins. This is set by the tournament’s organizers and it’s hidden from the public. So, a pro wrestling fight is a mixture of theatrics and athletics. Some have even titled it mere performance art.
On the other hand, MMA matches are not scripted. The fight is fully decided in the octagon, making MMA odds very difficult to predict.
But even though the outcomes of pro wrestling fights are preplanned, the fights are still very much interesting and real. Some of the kicks and blows are very real; that’s one of the major reasons why some MMA players switch to pro wrestling. Because even though acting skills are required, you must be a good fighter to succeed in pro wrestling.
The originality of fights is one of the major reasons for the rivalry between the two sports. MMA fighters and pro wrestlers are always at each other’s necks; they either condemn certain aspects of the sport or attack it as a whole.
3. The Sports in General
The WWE is one of the world’s most popular sports today. Also, pro wrestling stars are known all over the globe; some of them, like John Cena and the Rock, have gone on to star in popular Hollywood movies.
The WWE has fans in over 120 countries and has been translated into almost all languages. The past few years have seen UFC gain more international fame, but they are yet to reach the heights of the WWE.
In 2021, WWE generated a record-breaking $1 billion. All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro wrestling generated $100 million and $50 million, respectively. The Pro wrestling industry is said to be worth over $5 billion.
In the third quarter of 2021, UFC reported generating $730 million in revenue. Though the full 2021 reports are yet to be released, financial analysts projected they crossed the billion-dollar mark. This is proof that while MMA might not be as popular as pro wrestling, they are still generating a lot in revenue. Currently, the UFC is worth more than WWE, thanks to endorsement deals with major corporations like ESPN and Crypto.com.
Lastly, while the MMA industry is growing rapidly, the pay is not that good. There’s no doubt that top MMA fighters like Conor McGregor and Israel Adesanya make millions of dollars yearly, but this is only reserved for the top stars. In 2018, MMA reported that the average MMA fighter earns about $68,500 yearly, a big difference from the top earners. Most pro wrestlers make over six figures annually, with the top stars earning millions.
The Bottom Line
The battle of superiority between MMA and pro wrestling has been going on for years. Thanks to the UFC, the MMA has grown in popularity and has started to amass millions of fans across the globe.
While the two share similarities in that they both involve fighting techniques and physicality, the differences come in the fights’ originality. The outcomes of pro wrestling fights are predetermined, and the actors merely act. In MMA, the fights are unpredictable, and you can’t know the outcome of the game till the fight is over.
