5 times WWE stars were forced to fight for real

#4 Batista vs Vince Lucero (MMA Fight)

Batista celebrating another victory in the WWE

Before Dave Batista became a Hollywood movie star, he followed in the footsteps of WWE superstars Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley into the world of MMA.

"The Animal" had always wanted to test himself in the cage after training for MMA for many years.

Unlike CM Punk, Batista didn’t sign with a major MMA promotion like UFC. He instead took a fight on a CES MMA show in Rhode Island, where he was matched up against MMA journeyman Vince Lucero.

The fight started with the chubby Lucero charging at the WWE superstar throwing big right hands that had Batista rocked against the cage. Batista was able to weather the storm as the out-of-shape Lucero tired. He was then able to take down Lucero in the middle of the cage. Once he had his opponent down, Batista reigned down big punches from the top and the fight was stopped with one minute left in the first round.

Credit to the 43-year-old Batista for stepping into the cage, fighting and winning. But it was yet another example of how different the world of MMA is compared to WWE.