Dan Severn is a bit of a hero for those of us who enjoy both the WWE and the UFC events, as he successfully made the cross-over many years ago. He is the reason why these two companies are so tightly related to each other in the eyes of many fans.
The First of His Kind
Back when MMA was considered nothing short of barbaric and even referred to as human cockfighting, Dan Severn was the first fighter in this style that rose to fame. He had begun fighting as an amateur wrestler early in life, but he couldn’t make it to the Olympics any of the times he tried.
He ended up winning many National Wrestling Championships, while he was also training in Judo, paving the way for what was to come later in his career.
Professional Wrestling
His career as a professional wrestler at the UWF-I, which is the international version of the UWF where he became a prolific fighter with many titles under his belt. Then he went on to join All American Pro Wrestling, where he performed the outstanding feat of defeating Al Snow, who used to be his coach.
The Crossover to MMA and UFC
By 1994, he was still a professional wrestler but was already making a spectacular debut in MMA. While he is fond of both aspects of his career, we just can’t limit ourselves to calling him a professional wrestler.
December the 4th saw his first three UFC fights, but it wouldn’t be until April 1995 that he won a tournament, when he competed at the UFC 5.
He had a prolific career within the UFC and as an MMA fighter, winning many fights while simultaneously staying at the WWE, until 1999 when he left due to disagreements.
He stayed as a UFC fighter until the year 2013, by which time he had already won 101 fights, of the 127 he fought. Dan Severn’s career was filled with wrestling and MMA accomplishments.