“I still get the itch”- Former champion talks about the time he had to reject UFC; hopes merger with WWE will give him another chance to do it 

The WWE-UFC merger has led to fans discussing which stars could possibly cross over from one promotion to another. According to a WWE superstar, he has already thought about pursuing UFC, long before the merger was a reality.

Baron Corbin is a former Golden Gloves boxer, who has competed against the top names in the company. He is currently back on NXT, where he is doing great work, after getting lost in the shuffle on the main roster.

In an interview with Sean Ross Sapp of “Fightful” recently, the former US Champion revealed how he had an option to start his MMA career but couldn’t. He also talked about how he ended up pursuing the option of a pro-wrestling career because of an acquaintance when he had to decide his next step.

“In the early stages of Ultimate Fighter, I was looking at going and being on the one like Rashad Evans and all those guys, but I had a football scholarship and I was.. I was going to college.. so I couldn’t do that,” said Corbin (6:46-6:55)

“I’ve always been a massive WWE fan and he’s like I have a connection with WWE, let me put a call in with and go see if you like it, because that was the thing… I’m either gonna go fight in the octagon or do this,” added Corbin (7:12-7:25)

You can watch the entire clip below:

Baron Corbin still wants to fight in combat sports other than WWE

In the same interview, the 39-year old said that he still has an itch to compete in a grappling tournament or fight in a golden gloves tournament, after a long pro-wrestling career. He also noted that such opportunities might come up after the merger.

“I got the opportunity to go to WWE first and that’s where it is at but I still get that itch though.. I still.. I’m like man.. should I go try to do a Jiu Jitsu tournament.. should I try to fight in the Golden Gloves again or should I try to fight Jake Paul and you never know.. with the Endeavour deal,” said Corbin

While it doesn’t seem like Corbin is going anywhere, with him currently being a crucial part of NXT, it’ll certainly be interesting to see whether he will compete anywhere outside the WWE. It’ll also be interesting to see if there is actually some cross promotion after the merger.

Do you want to see Baron Corbin have a grappling or MMA match? Who do you want to see cross over between the two promotions? Let us know in the comments section below.

Please provide h/t to Sportskeeda.com if you use the quotes in the article. Also Provide credit to original source,"Fightful".