5 pro-wrestlers who you didn't realise fought in MMA

#4 Bart Gunn

A former WWE tag team champion as part of the Smokin’ Gunns, Bart Gunn became known as a tough guy in the world of wrestling when he won the infamous ‘Brawl for All’ tournament in 1998 – essentially a toughman competition with a mix of boxing and wrestling that was actually legitimate rather than staged – knocking out foes such as Bradshaw, the Godfather, and ‘Dr Death’ Steve Williams.

The tough aura that he’d achieved through his victory was somewhat dented in 1999 when he was knocked out by boxing veteran Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch in a toughman fight at Wrestlemania 15, but surprisingly, he actually ended up in the world of MMA some seven years after that loss, and even found himself in one of the biggest MMA promotions of them all – PRIDE – for a single fight.

Fighting under his Japanese ring name of ‘Mike Barton’, Gunn – real name Mike Polchlopek – debuted in MMA in BJ Penn’s Rumble on the Rock promotion, where he faced UFC veteran Cabbage Correira. Stunningly, Gunn actually came away with a win, as Correira suffered a cut which caused the fight to be stopped.

His next fight however was not so successful. Gunn was signed by PRIDE to face Ikuhisa Minowa – AKA ‘Minowaman’ – a fighter who always straddled the line between MMA and pro-wrestling and was renowned for fighting larger opponents. In a relatively dull affair, Minowa defeated Gunn by unanimous decision after two rounds – and that was the end of the former Smokin’ Gunn’s MMA career.