Whereas WWE has at all times had an in depth relationship with UFC and blended martial arts, it has solely gotten deeper ever since they had been bought by TKO.
Now, WWE and UFC go hand in hand. Whereas there are clearly variations between each merchandise, there’s greater than sufficient love between
This was just lately seen when UFC Mild Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira got here to WWE Friday Evening SmackDown.
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Whereas it was thrilling to see the Poatan within the crowd, it was much more thrilling to see him work together with a modern-day legend.
ESPN MMA chronicled Pereira assembly up and exchanging merchandise with Roman Reigns, the previous Undisputed WWE Champion who held the title for 1,316 days.
“I respect your physique of labor,” Reigns mentioned, per Arda Ocal of ESPN. “Hell of a run to this point and we’re excited for what you are gonna do sooner or later.”
Pereira is presently ranked because the second-best pound-for-pound fighter within the UFC, solely behind UFC Light-weight Champion Islam Makhachev.
Presently, Pereira has a 12-2 file with two wins by knockout and two wins by choice. He has held the UFC Mild Heavyweight Championship for 362 days.
Pereira has additionally had a prolonged kickboxing profession, boasting a 33-7 file. He has held a number of titles with Glory. He was inducted into the Glory Corridor of Fame in 2023.
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Roman Reigns made his WWE debut in 2010 as a part of Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE’s developmental territory, which was later rebranded as NXT.
Reigns made his most important roster WWE debut on Nov. 18, 2012, as a member of The Defend alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley in AEW).
Whereas all three wrestlers had been extremely proficient, Reigns clearly acquired extra of a push from administration than the others. By 2015, Reigns was the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
After a number of totally different title reigns and feuds involving the likes of Brock Lesnar, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Braun Strowman, Reigns would take a short lived depart of absence after he introduced that his leukemia had returned after 11 years and was in remission.
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Reigns returned to WWE on Feb. 25, 2019, and instantly put himself again into the primary occasion image. After taking one other hiatus throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Reigns returned and aligned himself with Paul Heyman, starting the formation of the Bloodline.
What would end result was the longest reign within the fashionable period {of professional} wrestling, which might come to an finish when he misplaced to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40 Evening 2.
In his time with WWE, Reigns has received the WWE Championship 4 occasions, the WWE Common Championship twice, the Intercontinental Championship as soon as, the USA Championship as soon as, and the WWE Tag Workforce Championship as soon as with Seth Rollins.
Reigns additionally received the Royal Rumble in 2015.
For extra UFC and WWE information, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
