For these 10 current and former UFC fighters, they could have played professional sports outside the Octagon. Instead, they all decided to embark on the career of a mixed martial artist.
From Brock Lesnar to Stipe Miocic to Alexander Volkanovski, here are 10 current and former UFC fighters who came to MMA from other sports.
10. Walt Harris
The heavyweight has hit a bit of a rough patch, losing his last three fights. However, Harris is 13-10 overall and just a few years removed from back-to-back finishes that earned him “Performance of the Night” honors.
Harris has also squared off with former UFC champions Andrei Arlovski and Fabricio Werdum, along with contender Alistair Overeem.
A two-time Golden Gloves boxing champion in Alabama and Georgia, Harris played basketball for Jacksonville State University before entering into MMA.
9. Dominick Reyes
Back in 2020, many believe Reyes claimed the UFC light heavyweight championship in a bout with Jon Jones. In the end, he was on the losing end of a decision. Since that time, he has yet to record a win.
Reyes won his first 12 professional fights, including a knockout of Chris Weidman and wins over Volkan Oezdemir and Jared Cannonier.
Before jumping into the cage, Reyes was an all-conference football player for Stony Brook University. He graduated as the school’s career leader in tackles but went undrafted in the 2013 NFL Draft.
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8. Greg Hardy
Probably the most decorated former football player to compete in MMA, Hardy started his pro career in 2018 on Dana White’s Contender Series. He was signed to a deal a year later, winning four fights inside the Octagon.
Following a 2022 loss to Sergei Spivac, Hardy was released, turning his attention to boxing. He has scored three wins in the boxing ring with a loss in a bare-knuckle match last year.
Before all that, though, Hardy was a six-year NFL veteran, recording 40 career sacks while making the All-Pro second team in 2013 and the Pro Bowl. He also had an All-American college career at Ole Miss before being selected in the sixth round.
7. Steve Bosse
After winning 12 of his 15 pro fights, Bosse left MMA to pursue a short-lived boxing career. His last official fight came for the UFC in 2016, where he topped Sean O’Connell in a “Fight of the Night” bout in his home country of Canada.
Bosse debuted with the UFC in 2015 and went 2-1, losing only to former contender Thiago Santos in his middleweight debut. He won the Ringside MMA light heavyweight title in 2009.
Prior to all that, Bosse was a successful hockey enforcer in the Quebec semi-pro league, where he earned the nickname, “The Boss.”
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6. Ciryl Gane
A former interim UFC heavyweight champion, Gane has twice fought for the unified crown. Both times, he has came up empty, losing to Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou. Outside of that, though, nobody has bested the French fighter in his career.
Gane is 12-2 overall with nine of those being finishes. He bested Serghei Spivac for a win to rebound after falling to Jones in 2023. He also has victories over Derrick Lewis, former UFC champion Junior dos Santos and Tai Tuivasa.
Born in La Roche-sur-Yon, France, Gane was a standout on the soccer pitch and basketball court before finding Muay Tahi. From there, combat sports took over.
5. Matt Mitrione
Mitrione made a name for himself during The Ultimate Fighter, showing fans just how bizarre of a personality he has. From there, he would fight numerous times for the UFC, scoring a knockout win over Derrick Lewis and a finish of Gabriel Gonzaga in 2014.
After a 2016 loss to Travis Browne, he would join Bellator, where he finished Fedor Emelianenko at Madison Square Garden. Mitrione last competed in 2021, losing four of his last five around a no-contest.
Mitrione was an All-American in high school on the football field, receiving a scholarship to Purdue University. A broken foot during winter workouts kept him from being drafted. He would play three seasons in the NFL, recording four total tackles.
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4. Eryk Anders
Anders has spent the past seven years battling in the UFC, posting wins over Jamie Pickett, Darren Stewart and Kyle Daukaus in recent memory. Overall, he is 16-8 with eight of those wins coming in the Octagon.
Born on a U.S. Air Force base in the Philippines, Anders would move to the U.S. where he was a standout high school football player in Texas. He attended Alabama, starting 14 games as a senior while helping the Crimson Tide win the national title with seven tackles and a forced fumble vs. Texas.
Anders signed an NFL contract with the Cleveland Browns and bounced around in the CFL and Arena Football League before moving to MMA.
3. Alexander Volkanovski
A former UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski defended the belt five times, including a unification bout with Yair Rodriguez from 2019-2024. During that run, he bested the likes of Max Holloway (three times), Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung.
Volkanovski would lose the belt in 2024 to Ilia Topuria after a pair of challenges of lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. He also holds career wins over Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes.
Born in New South Wales, Australia, “The Great” was a semi-pro rugby player, earning an award for being the league’s best player in 2010. At 23 years old, he left the sport after helping his team win the Grand Final, entering into MMA.
2. Stipe Miocic
A former UFC heavyweight champion, Miocic spends his off-time working as a full-time firefighter and paramedic in Ohio. He has held that role since 2022 after being part-time for a number of years.
Inside the Octagon, Miocic has held the belt twice, making four successful defenses along the way. He holds six wins in UFC heavyweight title fights, which is tied for the most. Daniel Cormier, Francis Ngannou and Junior dos Santos are just some of the legends he holds wins over.
Before all that, though, he was a standout athlete in college in both baseball and wrestling. He competed at the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships and received interest from several MLB teams.
1. Brock Lesnar
Where do we start with Lesnar, who took the world by storm when he defeated Randy Couture in his fourth professional fight in 2008. That win earned him the UFC heavyweight title, which he would defend twice before losing it to Cain Velasquez. Health issues forced Lesnar out of MMA, as he returned following a five-year break in 2016 to fight Mark Hunt.
Lesnar is the youngest person to win the WWE Championships at 25 years and 44 days. He is also a former IWGP champion and has held the WWE Championship and Universal belts a total of 10 times.
Along with his success in WWE and pro wrestling, Lesnar tried out for the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL.
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