5 WWE Superstars Who Could Succeed In The UFC

#4 Dolph Ziggler

Dolph Ziggler has an impressive amateur wrestling background

Given Dolph Ziggler – real name Nick Nemeth – turns 39 next July, the likelihood of him ever transitioning into a career in MMA, let alone succeeding, now seems pretty slim. But surprisingly enough, had he chosen to do so a little earlier one, he could well have made it all the way to the top.

Like fellow WWE superstar Chad Gable, Ziggler is clearly a tremendously gifted athlete. But what would’ve put him into a prime position for UFC success is his wrestling background.

Ziggler started wrestling whilst at St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, where he broke the school record for most pins in a career, and was a teammate of former UFC title challenger Gray Maynard.

At the collegiate level, Ziggler wrestled for Kent State University and racked up a total of 121 career wins – the second-most in the history of Kent State. He also won the All-American Mid Conference championship three times – not quite Brock Lesnar’s NCAA Division I title victory, but definitely impressive in its own right.

If Ziggler were to leave WWE to pursue MMA right now, then it’s a question mark as to how far he’d get, but if he were to go directly to the UFC a la CM Punk, then he’d probably have far more success based purely on that wrestling background than the ‘Straight Edge Superstar’.