The initial fight salaries for fighters competing on the main card of Triller Fight Club’s Ben Askren vs Jake Paul PPV event are out. Former Bellator and UFC fighter Ben Askren is set to make his professional boxing debut as one half of the main event. For his troubles, Askren will bank a minimum of […]
The initial fight salaries for fighters competing on the main card of Triller Fight Club’s Ben Askren vs Jake Paul PPV event are out.
Former Bellator and UFC fighter Ben Askren is set to make his professional boxing debut as one half of the main event. For his troubles, Askren will bank a minimum of $500,000. This is not including PPV points which will likely add an extensive sum to the fight purse.
Askren’s opponent, Jake Paul, is set to receive an even higher pay-out. The YouTuber star, with 2 professional fights on his record, looks set to net at least $690,000. This is likely because Paul brings a huge following over from his YouTube channel, as well as the ‘heel’ persona he has created. These figures were released via MMAFighting.com.
The full main card salaries can be seen below:
Triller Fight Club: Paul vs. Askren Salaries
Ben Askren $500,000 Jake Paul $690,000
Ivan Redkach $250,000 Regis Prograis $850,000
Frank Mir $350,000 Steve Cunningham $150,000
Reykon $80,000 Joe Fournier $220,000
During Askren’s career as an MMA fighter, he primarily relied on his wrestling background as a means of dominating his opponents. However, recent footage has shown Askren looking significantly sharper as he hits pads. Jake Paul has actually looked relatively impressive in his two pro fights so far. However, neither were against actual fighters. As such it remains to be seen how well he will do under real pressure. Having said that, it also remains to be seen if Askren can apply said pressure without relying on his wrestling.
The initial fight salaries for fighters competing on the main card of Triller Fight Club’s Ben Askren vs Jake Paul PPV event are out. Former Bellator and UFC fighter Ben Askren is set to make his professional boxing debut as one half of the main event. For his troubles, Askren will bank a minimum of […]
The initial fight salaries for fighters competing on the main card of Triller Fight Club’s Ben Askren vs Jake Paul PPV event are out.
Former Bellator and UFC fighter Ben Askren is set to make his professional boxing debut as one half of the main event. For his troubles, Askren will bank a minimum of $500,000. This is not including PPV points which will likely add an extensive sum to the fight purse.
Askren’s opponent, Jake Paul, is set to receive an even higher pay-out. The YouTuber star, with 2 professional fights on his record, looks set to net at least $690,000. This is likely because Paul brings a huge following over from his YouTube channel, as well as the ‘heel’ persona he has created. These figures were released via MMAFighting.com.
The full main card salaries can be seen below:
Triller Fight Club: Paul vs. Askren Salaries
Ben Askren $500,000 Jake Paul $690,000
Ivan Redkach $250,000 Regis Prograis $850,000
Frank Mir $350,000 Steve Cunningham $150,000
Reykon $80,000 Joe Fournier $220,000
During Askren’s career as an MMA fighter, he primarily relied on his wrestling background as a means of dominating his opponents. However, recent footage has shown Askren looking significantly sharper as he hits pads. Jake Paul has actually looked relatively impressive in his two pro fights so far. However, neither were against actual fighters. As such it remains to be seen how well he will do under real pressure. Having said that, it also remains to be seen if Askren can apply said pressure without relying on his wrestling.
Bruce Buffer is a UFC legend in his own right, the way he introduces fighters hypes up the viewers and the fighters themselves. Buffer is well respected among the MMA community, however that didn’t stop him from getting into a scrap with UFC Hall of Famer Frank Trigg. As part of the UFC original fightpass […]
Bruce Buffer is a UFC legend in his own right, the way he introduces fighters hypes up the viewers and the fighters themselves. Buffer is well respected among the MMA community, however that didn’t stop him from getting into a scrap with UFC Hall of Famer Frank Trigg.
As part of the UFC original fightpass show Fightlore, both UFC president Dana White and Buffer give their stories of the fight and what happened that night. You can find a short preview of the show below.
“We had an Ultimate Fighter TV show and we were staying at the Hard Rock hotel and we had just got done doing the show,” Buffer explained. “I went up to [ex-commentator] Mike Goldberg’s room and Frank was in there and we are friends! We decided we were going to go out, have a little dinner and go to a club, when we get to the elevator, the doors open and there is Dana White and his security guard and then Frank walks in,” Buffer said. “I love watches and Dana had this really cool watchband on and I go, ‘Dana, what a cool watch.’ all of a sudden, I got a wrist hand shot to my neck. I turned around and I said, ‘Frank you hit me, why the f*** did you hit me?’”
Buffer then goes on to say “He said the wrong thing to me. He said ‘Well what are you going to do about it?’ I just reacted and went ‘pop, pop’ – I punched him twice. Frank came back at me, hit me harder and I had to hit him back harder. It was on! 10 floors; what does that take – 15, 20, 25 seconds? All 10 floors, we just kept going and going until the point that he threw a knee up and kneed one of my friends!” Buffer stated. “Dana was against the elevator, I don’t remember seeing him. I was too busy focusing on what was going on and the adrenaline was pumping and that was when the doors started to open. I just threw my arms in the air and I said, ‘Frank, we’re done!’ I looked down and there was blood up and down my shirt and my thumb is peeled back and you can see the bone in my thumb.”
White then proceeds to explain what he witnessed that night in Vegas. “Frank Trigg, at the time, was a ranked UFC fighter! He just karate chopped him in the throat, and Trigg said, ‘don’t f****** talk while I’m talking.’ I was like, ‘oh s***’.” White then adds “Buffer blasted him and it was on. They started throwing punches at each other and I was like ‘holy s***!’ “I stepped back into the corner of the elevator and I just f****** watched and let it go. They stopped fighting as soon as the elevator doors open at the lobby! Buffer’s hand was sliced open from Frank Trigg’s watch. Those two shook hands, apologised to each other and Buffer went to the hospital to go get stitches.” (Transcribed by talkSPORT)
Bruce Buffer is also an accomplished martial artist with a black belt in Tang Soo Do as well as a green belt in Judo. Buffer is loved by all MMA fans and the MMA community was pleased to hear that Buffer will not retire for at least 10 more years.
In recent years we’ve seen WWE superstars like Brock Lesnar and CM Punk cross over from professional wrestling to test themselves in a true fight in the UFC’s Octagon. However, the door swings both ways, and since the UFC began there have been several examples of fighters being lured over to the world of pro-wrestling […]
In recent years we’ve seen WWE superstars like Brock Lesnar and CM Punk cross over from professional wrestling to test themselves in a true fight in the UFC’s Octagon.
However, the door swings both ways, and since the UFC began there have been several examples of fighters being lured over to the world of pro-wrestling in search of fame, fortune and in some cases a chance to fulfill a childhood dream.
In this article we’ll chart the successes and failures of 10 UFC stars who have attempted to ‘get over’ with pro-wrestling fans and become the king (or queen) of the ring.
Ken Shamrock
Ken Shamrock made his pro-wrestling debut as far back as 1990 on the regional circuit in North America and then headed overseas to Japan’s UWF and PWFG organizations.
After winning a legitimate fight in the latter organization in late 1992, Shamrock was inspired to fight in mixed martial arts and became a major star in Pancrase and then the UFC, but by the end of 1996 he had become burnt out and was struggling to make ends meet, and so he quit MMA and signed for the World Wrestling Federation.
Billed as ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’, Shamrock debuted for WWF in 1997 and proved himself to be a performer with crossover appeal who would become a star during his three-year stint there.
Along the way he’d compete against many of the company’s biggest names and won the Intercontinental title by defeating X-Pac, claimed the Tag Team Championship alongside ‘Big Boss Man’ and defeated ‘The Rock’ to become ‘King Of The Ring’ in 1998.
Constantly being on the road with the WWF took a toll on Shamrock however, and so for the sake of his family he abruptly left the organization in 2000 and returned to MMA, though the injuries he’d sustained while wrestling meant he was never able to reach the same heights as earlier in his career.
Frank Trigg isn’t a fan of top mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters of the past trying to make comebacks. During his professional MMA career, Trigg went toe-to-toe with the best fighters of his era. Trigg did battle with former welterweight champions Georges St-Pierre, Matt Hughes, and Matt Serra. With talks of a potential comeback for […]
Frank Trigg isn’t a fan of top mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters of the past trying to make comebacks. During his professional MMA career, Trigg went toe-to-toe with the best fighters of his era. Trigg did battle with former welterweight champions Georges St-Pierre, Matt Hughes, and Matt Serra. With talks of a potential comeback for […]
For some MMA fighters, professional wrestling was just a one-time cash grab. For others, it became a second career. Inspired by yet another week of TNA Impact Wrestling’s efforts to get anyone to care about the professional wrestling experiments of two broken-down MMA legends, we’ll be examining fighters who took up professional wrestling after they made their names in MMA in our newest installment of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.
Bear in mind that this article is focusing on mixed martial artists who transitioned to professional wrestling careers, and not fighters who started off as professional wrestlers. So that means fighters like Brock Lesnar, Ken Shamrock, Bobby Lashley, Giant Silva, Bob Sapp, Dos Caras Jr. (aka Alberto Del Rio), Dan Severn (Google it) and Sakuraba will not be covered here — although a few of these men will make appearances in this article. Let’s start off on a positive note…
The Good
The Professional Wrestling Career of Josh Barnett.
When you’re thinking of good instances of an MMA fighter turning to professional wrestling as a second career choice, Josh Barnett should immediately come to mind. There have been other fighters who dabbled in professional wrestling, but Barnett is one of the only ones to be just as popular and successful in it as he was in MMA.
Before his transition, Barnett became the youngest heavyweight champion in UFC history by defeating Randy Couture at UFC 36. After being stripped of his title due to a positive drug test, Barnett set his sights on the Japanese professional wrestling scene, where the fans value legitimacy and toughness from their wrestlers more than mic skills and charisma (although Barnett has both in spades). He immediately challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and although he came up short, he went on to enjoy the most relevant crossover career of any fighter on this list before his return to the UFC earlier this year put a halt to the wrasslin’ for the time being.
For some MMA fighters, professional wrestling was just a one-time cash grab. For others, it became a second career. Inspired by yet another week of TNA Impact Wrestling’s efforts to get anyone to care about the professional wrestling experiments of two broken-down MMA legends, we’ll be examining fighters who took up professional wrestling after they made their names in MMA in our newest installment of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.
Bear in mind that this article is focusing on mixed martial artists who transitioned to professional wrestling careers, and not fighters who started off as professional wrestlers. So that means fighters like Brock Lesnar, Ken Shamrock, Bobby Lashley, Giant Silva, Bob Sapp, Dos Caras Jr. (aka Alberto Del Rio), Dan Severn (Google it) and Sakuraba will not be covered here — although a few of these men will make appearances in this article. Let’s start off on a positive note…
The Good
The Professional Wrestling Career of Josh Barnett.
When you’re thinking of good instances of an MMA fighter turning to professional wrestling as a second career choice, Josh Barnett should immediately come to mind. There have been other fighters who dabbled in professional wrestling, but Barnett is one of the only ones to be just as popular and successful in it as he was in MMA.
Before his transition, Barnett became the youngest heavyweight champion in UFC history by defeating Randy Couture at UFC 36. After being stripped of his title due to a positive drug test, Barnett set his sights on the Japanese professional wrestling scene, where the fans value legitimacy and toughness from their wrestlers more than mic skills and charisma (although Barnett has both in spades). He immediately challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and although he came up short, he went on to enjoy the most relevant crossover career of any fighter on this list before his return to the UFC earlier this year put a halt to the wrasslin’ for the time being.
With Frye’s “rematch” against Yoshihiro Takayama being one of the few exceptions, the professional wrestling careers of Don Frye and Bas Rutten have been exactly what you’d expect them to be. If I need to explain why that’s a good thing, you’reobviouslynewhere.
The Polar Bear Fights Taz at ECW Hardcore Heaven.
(Enjoy the video while it lasts. Seriously, WWE’s lawyers will probably have it taken down soon.)
By 1996, a stocky, Brooklyn-born judoka by the name of Peter Senercia — better known as Taz — was one of the most talented, respected wrestlers on the independent circuit. Dubbed “The Human Suplex Machine,” Taz brawled his way through most of the ECW roster and was looking to take on some credible new opponents. This led to a problem for ECW owner Paul Heyman: Despite its success among hardcore wrestling fans, ECW was still very much an independent promotion that couldn’t afford to bring in established wrestlers just to job to one of their top stars. Always one to embrace new ideas, Heyman solved this dilemma by bringing Paul “The Polar Bear” Varelans in from the upstart Ultimate Fighting Championship to challenge Taz to a “real” fight at Hardcore Heaven.
At 6’8” tall and tipping the scales at 300 pounds, Varelans was the perfect fighter for Heyman to utilize. He was big enough to be seen as a formidable opponent, but his MMA record wasn’t too impressive for anyone to buy that Taz could actually beat him. The strong-style nature of the match hid The Polar Bear’s lack of professional wrestling training, yet also wasn’t out of place in ECW — especially not while Taz was in the ring. And while Taz obviously won the fight, he relied on outside interference. Having heels bend the rules in order to defeat larger, more skilled opponents is not only a common way to generate heat, but it also makes the ending more realistic in the eyes of the ECW fans who were familiar with those early UFC events. Well, at least as realistic as a fight that ends by Tazmission after an outsider dropkicks one of the fighters can look, I guess (work with me, people). Basically, everyone involved benefited from the situation and the fans actually cared about the angle — something that rarely happens when MMA fighters infiltrate the world of professional wrestling.
Bonus: According to wrestling legend, it was Taz who brought tapping out to professional wrestling. Taz was a huge Royce Gracie fan, and thought it would be more authentic if wrestlers tapped out at the end of their matches instead of just verbally submitting. If you think wrestling looks fake now, just imagine what it looked like when wrestlers verbally submitted to choke holds.
Brian Johnson Reinvents Himself in Japan
I’m willing to bet that, like most MMA fans, you’ve all but forgotten about Brian Johnson — the man who punched out a hapless Reza Nasri in under 30 seconds at UFC 11 before being emphatically tackled by Big John McCarthy. In terms of his real fighting career, you didn’t miss much — Johnson retired barely one year after he started fighting and lost to everyone he’s fought that you’ve heard of. However, with few other career options available for hulking spandex-clad athletes, Johnson turned to fake fighting and quickly excelled at it. He enjoyed success as a tag-team wrestler, pairing up with guys like Don Frye and Kazuyuki Fujita in the Japanese professional wrestling circuit.
Unfortunately, Johnson’s professional wrestling career would eventually serve as a brutal reminder that even though the fights are fake, the injuries that plague wrestlers are all too real. A series of concussions led him to retire in early 2001, and later that year, at only thirty-two years old, he would suffer a severe stroke. Though Johnson is alive and well today, he has wisely stayed away from the squared circle.
Hit that “next page” link for god awful gimmicks, the career that should have been, and the partnership that never should have…
Bruce Buffer is a UFC legend in his own right, the way he introduces fighters hypes up the viewers and the fighters themselves. Buffer is well respected among the MMA community, however that didn’t stop him from getting into a scrap with UFC Hall of Famer Frank Trigg. As part of the UFC original fightpass […]
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