Bellator Star Explains Why Pro Wrestling Is A Much Tougher Sport Than MMA

For years, the combatants of MMA and the stars of professional wrestling haven’t really seen eye-to-eye on a laundry list of topics.

The discussions and debates usually goes something like this:

MMA star: “You’re sport is fake.”
Wrestling star: “The outcome is known. The action is real. I’ll still beat your ass.”

King Mo is a former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and currently works in Bellator. Not too long ago, King Mo was on the active roster at TNA wrestling. King Mo is one of the few athletes who’ve competed in both the MMA octagon and the squared circle so he can speak from a position of authority on both sports.

King Mo on ‘toughness’ of MMA vs. pro wrestling

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, the hosts brought up the physical demands of both sports and how they compare. Without hesitation, King Mo explained that being a professional wrestler is much more taxing on the body than waging war in the MMA.

“Pro wrestling is harder than MMA. Here’s the reason why, in MMA I can avoid damage. I can circle, I can pull guard, I can take you down, I can push you to the cage, hell I can tap, I can verbally give up. In Pro Wrestling I’ve seen guys tear their ACL and continue to wrestle solely to please the crowd. You know regardless of what happens, the show must go on. You go out there, people are out there at one point they were wrestling like three times a week, four times a week. You know Hulk Hogan’s leg drop shrunk his spine, but guess what, he was still doing it. You know, your body is banged up, you’re taking bumps, you’re flying over ropes, through the ropes, hitting the ropes, hitting the turnbuckle, getting body slammed, taking a bump. You know that stuff breaks your body down, and you could ask any wrestler, you get a wrestler that’s 47 years old and you get an MMA fighter that’s 47 years old, the wrestler’s gonna look like he’s sixty compared to an MMA fighter. You get Randy Couture and compare him to someone like the Undertaker, I know Undertaker’s a little older but I guarantee you the Undertaker at 47, 48 years old was far more beat up then what Randy Couture was.”

This does, and will do, absolutely nothing to stop the verbal punches thrown between the combatants in the media, but it doesn’t lend some credence to the notion that wrestling is on the level of MMA and even professional football when it comes to the effects on the human body.

So what do you think — which athletes, MMA or pro wrestlers, have it tougher both in and out of the sport?