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

#1 Nathan Jones

His WWE career might’ve been very short – he stayed with the promotion for less than a year and was used on television for mere months before quitting the company at the end of 2003 – but fans still remember him somewhat fondly due to the series of vignettes introducing him as the ‘Colossus of Boggo Road’ – essentially a crazy ex-con character playing up on his real-life criminal background – and some hilariously sloppy work inside the ring.

Many wrestling fans might not realise, however, that Jones actually fought in MMA years before his WWE debut; years before he’d made it into the world of pro-wrestling, in fact. Jones fought on the inaugural PRIDE show, where he was faced with Japanese pro-wrestler and former sumo champion Koji Kitao.

Unfortunately for the giant Australian, the fight didn’t go so well for him. Kitao – who’d already fought once in the UFC during its early days – easily dodged some flashy kicks before taking Jones down, and from there he secured a keylock to force the Australian to tap out.

Unsurprisingly, Jones never fought in MMA again and he was gone from the world of pro-wrestling soon after his WWE run, too. Thankfully for Jones, a career as an intimidating-looking actor has proven to be more fruitful – he appeared in a short role in the Brad Pitt movie Troy and as of 2018 is still acting.