He was named the WWE King of the Ring in 2002 after winning the 2000 NCAA heavyweight wrestling championship. He joined the UFC in 2007.
He won the NCAA wrestling championships and amassed a 106-5 record in four years of wrestling, and was cut from the Minnesota Vikings during the preseason.
He won the 2010 UFC Heavyweight Championship against Shane Carwin via submission with an arm triangle choke in Las Vegas, Nevada.
He broke off his engagement with his fiancee Nicole, with whom he had a daughter named Mya Lynn in 2002, in order to start a relationship with fellow Wrestler Rena Sable Mero, whom he married in May 2006. He and Rena have two children, Duke and Turk.
He became the first fighter to beat The Undertaker in a WrestleMania match on April 6, 2014.
