Roman Reigns and Alex Pereira , past and present champions in WWE and UFC, met up Friday in Buffalo, New York, at WWE SmackDown.
Reigns, a former WWE Undisputed champion who held the title for 1,316 days — the fourth-longest title reign in WWE History — and Pereira, the current UFC light heavyweight champion and No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the ESPN MMA rankings , linked up, exchanged pleasantries and traded merchandise.
“I appreciate your body of work,” Reigns said. “Hell of a run so far and we’re excited for what you’re gonna do in the future.”
Pereira sat ringside for SmackDown with friends and family and spent time backstage, posing with WWE titles and meeting Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
Following the merger of WWE and UFC, the “TKO era” has spawned crossovers between WWE and UFC talent. Dominik and Rey Mysterio were recently in the crowd for Noche UFC .
The company has also begun holding UFC and WWE events in the same city on the same weekend. In February, UFC 298 and Monday Night Raw two nights later were held at Honda Center in Anaheim. At the UFC PPV, former UFC fighter and WWE superstar CM Punk along with WWE power couple Bianca Belair and Montez Ford were in attendance. At Raw, Michael Chandler called out Conor McGregor during the show.