With former WWE Champion Phillip Brooks (also known as CM Punk) announcing in December that he will be joining UFC, yet another professional wrestler joined the ranks of those who decided to stop "fake" fighting and actually do it for real. While Brooks doesn’t have the typical pedigree of an MMA star, his athletic background and decision to train with current champions at least gives him a fighting chance.

Brooks is following a path similar to another former WWE champion, Brock Lesnar. Lesnar left WWE and—after briefly dabbling in professional football—joined UFC and quickly rose in the ranks of the world’s top heavyweight fighters. The key difference between the two, of course, is that Lesnar also had previously competed in “real” fighting sports; in college at the University of Minnesota, Lesnar won the 2000 NCAA Division I heavyweight wrestling championship and was a two-time All-American.

The wrestling/MMA transition can cut the other way, too. Most famously, Ken Shamrock was one of the early faces of UFC before he joined WWE and at one point became an Intercontinental champion.

Regardless of the path, there’s no denying the significant overlap between the worlds of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Here’s a look at 20 Pro Wrestlers Who Competed in MMA.

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