{"id":319974,"date":"2026-04-17T06:46:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T01:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=319974"},"modified":"2026-04-17T06:46:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T01:16:34","slug":"former-ufc-heavyweight-champion-set-for-professional-wrestling-return-on-wrestlemania-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/former-ufc-heavyweight-champion-set-for-professional-wrestling-return-on-wrestlemania-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Former UFC heavyweight champion set for professional wrestling return on WrestleMania weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Follow us on Google Discover<\/span> <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

MMA and pro wrestling were linked long before the WWE and UFC merged to form TKO in 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dana White didn\u2019t get a fantastic response ultimately yr\u2019s WrestleMania when being shown on the screens at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

\u2018The Grandest Stage of Them All\u2019 is back in the identical constructing this weekend, where Brock Lesnar will step back contained in the ring following his return.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, \u2018The Beast Incarnate\u2019 won\u2019t be the one former UFC champion who will likely be lacing up their boots over the approaching days.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/header>\n
\n
\n
\n

4 legends. 1 room. 1 Survivor.<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Four-way<\/div>
4-way split image of Brock Lesnar, Francis Ngannou, Jon Jones and Fedor Emelianenko. Credit: Josh Hedges\/Zuffa LLC\/Mark Robinson\/Matchroom Boxing\/Chris Graythen\/Tomokazu Tazawa\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Josh Barnett headlines GCW\u2019s Bloodsport in clash with Yuji Nagata on WrestleMania weekend<\/h2>\n

WrestleMania week in Las Vegas will bring with it countless other pro wrestling shows happening nearby for fans to attend.<\/p>\n

GCW will likely be hosting the most recent installment of Josh Barnett\u2019s Bloodsport on April 17 on the Horseshoe, with the previous UFC heavyweight champion headlining the cardboard.<\/p>\n

Dana White questioned just what Barnett could have achieved if his title reign and first run within the promotion hadn\u2019t ended shortly after he beat Randy Couture at UFC 36.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be taking over Japanese wrestling legend Yuji Nagata in his first match for the reason that Bloodsport event that took place in London, England last September.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Fedor<\/div>
Photo by Hans Gutknecht\/MediaNews Group\/Los Angeles Day by day News via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bloodsport\u2019s fifteenth event also features former UFC and WWE star Shayna Baszler, who will likely be facing current WWE roster member Nattie Neidhart.<\/p>\n

The cardboard also features fellow WWE athletes Pete Dunne, Timothy Thatcher, and Charlie Dempsey, alongside technical wrestling specialist Zack Sabre Jr.<\/p>\n

Bloodsport has previously hosted matches with former MMA fighters like Quinton \u2018Rampage\u2019 Jackson, Matt Riddle, and Frank Mir.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/use><\/svg><\/p>\n
Join Our Newsletter<\/span><\/p>\n

Receive a digest of our greatest Bloody Elbow content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Follow us on Google Discover MMA and pro wrestling were linked long before the WWE and UFC merged to form TKO in 2023. Dana White didn\u2019t get a fantastic response ultimately yr\u2019s WrestleMania when being shown on the screens at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. \u2018The Grandest Stage of Them All\u2019 is back in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":319975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[1470,1097,3099,1161,1083,3928,3047,9418,102],"class_list":["post-319974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-champion","tag-heavyweight","tag-pro","tag-return","tag-set","tag-ufc","tag-weekend","tag-wrestlemania","tag-wrestling"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319974"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319977,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319974\/revisions\/319977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}