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

#3 Sean O’Haire

Often considered one of the all-time missed opportunities in the world of pro-wrestling, O’Haire emerged in the latter days of WCW as a potential superstar thanks to his size, intimidating look and exciting style, and appeared to have all the tools to succeed at the top. Unfortunately, once he got to WWE in 2001 his reputation slipped and by 2004, he parted ways with the promotion.

That was largely the end of O’Haire in the wrestling world, but it wasn’t the last that fans would hear of him. During his WCW career the announcers pushed that O’Haire had a background in ‘toughman’ fighting, and it was this career that he would fall back into. A brief career in kickboxing – during which he competed 3 times in K-1 – was followed by a move into MMA.

O’Haire debuted in MMA in 2004 with a submission win over Tony Roberts, and then defeated PRIDE veteran Shungo Oyama in his next fight. A run in Japan then followed, but both of his fights – a K-1 HERO’s bout against future Lesnar opponent Min Soo Kim, and a PRIDE outing against Butterbean – ended in losses.

But the former WCW star wasn’t quite done, as he managed two more wins – and apparently a handful of others that weren’t recorded – before fading from view in late 2007. From there the only reports of O’Haire came when he was arrested for battery in 2009 and 2011, and sadly he committed suicide by hanging in 2014.