Footballers who became fighters – from Chelsea MMA star to WWE wrestler
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Footballers' careers are short and they are encouraged to think about what they will be doing as a job when they hang up their boots.
Some footballers go into coaching and management after finishing on the pitch while others bag a job as a pundit on the TV or radio.
A small selection of footballers however decide that they need to continue performing in sport and go in a totally different direction after quitting the beautiful game.
We are talking about the players who decide to become boxers, MMA fighters or wrestlers.
Here are 12 footballers who wanted to pursue another sport and decided to get into the ring and test their fighting prowess.
Ricardo Prasel
Ricardo Prasel probably isn’t a household name amongst football fans in the UK.
However, he will be well known amongst some Chelsea players including Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack as the Brazilian goalkeeper played at the London club for a brief period of time.
Prasel began his promising career with Athletico Paranaense before moving to Clube Atlético Juventus. Then, when he was 18 years old, he was signed by Chelsea.
Although Prasel never managed to make a first-team appearance for the Blues, he still got to experience what it was like training alongside elite-level players including Petr Cech, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole.
He returned to Brazil, went to college, and started jiu-jitsu in order to stay in shape and help his hip injuries.
MMA Fighting claim that his coach immediately spotted talent in the former footballer and it wasn’t long before he was winning grappling tournaments.
He now boasts a record of 13 wins and three defeats and has hit sights on breaking into the KSW, Europe’s top MMA league, where he’s known as ‘The German’ due to his father’s nationality.
Leon McKenzie
A star forward for the likes of Norwich, Peterborough and Coventry on the pitch, McKenzie would later forge a decent super-middleweight career.
Having hung up his boots in January 2013, he pulled on the gloves just six months later.
A debut win over John Mason at Bethnal Green's historic York Hall set him on a string of nine fights without defeat.
An English title fight with Jahmaine Smyle saw McKenzie suffer a first defeat before he rounded off an 11-fight career with a nine-round loss to Cello Renda.
Tommy Martin
Tommy Martin always said choosing between football and boxing was easy.
Martin was previously on the books of League One side Peterborough, but turned down a goalkeeping scholarship to pursue a career as a pro boxer.
The 28-year-old had told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: "You've got to put your focus on one sport if you want to make it.
"As soon as I stepped into the gym, I thought 'I don't want to be on a cold, muddy football pitch – I want to be in the gym punching someone's head in'."
Martin, won 13 professional fights until his only defeat ended his career.
He fought John Hibbert on January 30, 2016, and lost via knockout.
As a result of the knock-out, Martin suffered a bleed on the brain which was found following a post-fight MRI scan.
He announced his retirement on October 24, 2016, after less than four years as a professional.
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand became both a Manchester United and England legend during a glittering football career.
He decided to pursue a boxing career after retiring from football but his boxing days were over before they really started.
Sponsored by a betting company to step into the ring in September 2017, the former defender was denied a licence.
The British Boxing Board of Control deemed it 'not beneficial' to allow Ferdinand his second career.
And the Manchester United hero quickly called time on his boxing comeback.
He said: "It is with a heavy heart that I am hanging up my gloves.
"To not be given the chance to demonstrate my ability to the BBBofC through the standard assessment afforded to others is hard to take."
Katie Taylor
Katie Taylor is arguably the world's top female boxer, but she was also a former Republic of Ireland international footballer.
The ex-winger starred for Peamount United in the late 2000s yet missed her side's FAI Women's Cup final in 2009 to be crowned Europe's best amateur fighter.
Taylor won 11 caps for her country, scoring twice, before choosing to focus on boxing a decade ago.
Former team-mate Marie Curtin later said that Taylor 'would have excelled to the highest level' had she stayed in football.
Curtin added: "There were no barriers. Her mindset is so strong and you need leaders like that on your team to win."
Marcin Wasilewski
Premier League winner Marcin Wasilewski swapped titles for takedowns after becoming a cage fighter.
The tough-guy Polish defender spent four seasons with Leicester and played in the Foxes' epic 2015-16 campaign.
Centre-back Wasilewski retired from football in November 2020 after three years with Wisla Krakow.
The 40-year-old is a longtime mixed martial arts fan and attended numerous bouts in Poland.
He has had three fights so far, winning two bouts and losing one. His last win was a bare-knuckle fight in March of this year when he beat Patryk Bednarz.
Wayne Bridge
Chelsea left-back Wayne Bridge had a stint in boxing two years ago during a Sport Relief clash with Made In Chelsea star Spencer Matthews.
The three-round affair started tightly before Bridge unleashed a barrage of blows.
Matthews hit the deck twice and yet made it to the final bell, at which Bridge won on points.
The former England international, who has also appeared on I'm A Celebrity, retired from football aged 33 in 2014.
His boxing career ended with that one charity fight and he is now said to refer to himself as a 'stay-at-home dad' for the two kids he shares with wife Frankie.
Patrice Evra
Patrice Evra is still waiting to enter the ring for his first fight with YouTuber Adam Saleh.
The former Man Utd captain was supposed to feature on the undercard of the Martyn Ford vs Iranian Hulk fight, but that has now been delayed.
Evra, 40, said: "I'm really excited to participate for the first time ever in my life in a boxing match, because I always had so much respect for people in boxing.
"It is not just about power and strength, it is also about strategy and technique — It's like a chess game.
"What I am the most excited for is the training technique, because the way they train is completely different to how football players train.
"I am really excited to work hard, to challenge myself, and to get out of my comfort zone."
Grant Holt
Former Norwich City forward Grant Holt swapped his boots for the wrestling ring, winning a 40-man Royal Rumble on his debut.
Holt had scored 190 goals during his professional career with 26 of them coming in the Premier League.
In May 2018, following the conclusion of his football career, Holt signed with WAW, a Norfolk-based wrestling promotion run by the legendary Knight family from which the first-ever NXT Women’s champion, Paige, hails.
He has since said he plans to wrestle in the future again and for charity.
Stuart Tomlinson
Stuart Tomlinson was faced with the difficult choice of whether to retire from professional football following a serious knee injury.
The Burton Albion goalkeeper, who previously played for Crewe Alexandra, Barrow and Port Vale, decided to quit the game in 2013.
Little did he know the end of one childhood dream was set to be the start of another, which would take him across the Atlantic to the United States.
His bodybuilder physique had caught the attention of WWE talent scouts and the 31-year-old embarked on a new career as a professional wrestler.
He was rechristened as Hugo Knox and based at WWE’s Performance Center in Orlando, before the goalkeeper turned grappler undertook his first UK tour with WWE's acclaimed development division NXT.
But his wrestling career didn't last long and he was released from his WWE contract. He returned to football in 2017 as a goalkeeper, making six appearances for Altrincham before retiring.
Tim Wiese
At the beginning of the 2002-03 season, Wiese made his debut in the Bundesliga for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and went on to play another 12 years in Germany.
Wiese even lined up in goal six times for the German national team, and played in the Champions League for Werder Bremen.
After retiring from football in September 2014, at the age of 32, Wiese’s career took a turn that not many fans will have expected.
Pretty much immediately after retiring from football, Wiese claimed that he’d been offered a WWE developmental contract.
At a live event in Germany that year, Wiese appeared as a guest timekeeper, going on to sign with WWE in 2016.
Wiese even wrestled for WWE at a non-televised live event in Munich in November 2016.
The former footballer teamed with Sheamus and Cesaro to take on Primo, Epico and Bo Dallas.
Wiese remained with WWE for just one year, only wrestling the one match, before leaving the company in 2017.
He has not gone on to wrestle since, and in fact, he made his return to football for a one-off game in Germany the year he was let go by WWE.
Curtis Woodhouse
Few footballers have made the switch to boxing as convincingly as Woodhouse.
Birmingham paid £1million to sign the midfielder from Sheffield United in 2001 before spells with Peterborough, Hull and others.
Disenchanted with the game, he quit aged 26 to start a long career in the ring.
An assault conviction halted Woodhouse's rise but he soon began to ascend the boxing ladder.
Over 31 fights, he claimed 24 wins and went 12 rounds with Frankie Gavin for the WBO Intercontinental welterweight belt in 2011.
The Driffield Destroyer won English and British level titles before retiring in 2017, and can now be found managing non-league Gainsborough Trinity.
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- Premier League
- Manchester United FC
- Chelsea FC
- UFC
- WWE
- Leicester City FC
- Boxing
- Rio Ferdinand
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