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Wrestling has historically been a fertile ground for producing talented athletes who transition into MMA. However, in recent years, that pipeline has thinned, especially when it comes to the sport's biggest names.
While Olympic gold medalist and multiple NCAA champion Gable Steveson is set to make his UFC debut in July, many top wrestlers are opting against pursuing combat sports as a professional career.
Two-time Olympian and UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier believes the primary reason so many wrestlers are hesitant to even try their hand at fighting boils down to money.
"We don't have an American male champion right now," Cormier told Ya'll Street TV, momentarily forgetting that Sean Strickland held the UFC middleweight title. "I think maybe we've done so much that the American wrestler isn't as accessible anymore. In wrestling, there are RTC centers where guys are making a little more money. Remember, I used to tell you how many times I sat there and wondered how many times I went right when I should have gone left? Now, 'right' means $200,000 a year as a coach."
Most wrestlers consider $200,000 a significant amount, especially when living in smaller towns like Stillwater, Oklahoma, or Happy Valley, where Penn State is located, or Raleigh, North Carolina. In such towns, that's a lot of money. The American wrestler isn't as open to MMA as we'd like them to be."
Money was once a major driving force for many wrestlers to transition to MMA, as post-college opportunities to earn a living solely through competition were almost non-existent. Only the elite wrestlers truly earned enough for a comfortable life, and that was primarily through Olympic or World Championship titles and high placements. Beyond that, wrestlers couldn't make much money, and a move to MMA offered that potential.
But coaching has clearly become one avenue wrestlers are using to stay active and earn a living without having to get punched in the face. Additionally, the rise of Real American Freestyle has provided many wrestlers with legitimate opportunities to earn money outside of the sport's biggest tournaments.
Cormier would undoubtedly like to see more top American wrestlers choose MMA in the future. However, among the 16 American wrestlers competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, only silver medalist Kennedy Blades has expressed serious interest in potentially fighting one day. Perhaps this will change in the future, but the flow of elite wrestlers into MMA has certainly slowed in recent years.
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