We caught up with CM Punk, former WWE Champion and international superstar, to ask him how he was preparing for his UFC 203 fight and how the transition into MMA from pro-wrestling was working out for him.
Punk has been having an extremely busy week leading up to the fight, after experiencing his first taste of the rigours of fightweek. Between cutting weight, which is arduous for all fighters – let alone for someone who is doing it for the first time – and the unending media obligations, we managed to glean some time to squeeze in a few questions of our own.
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CM Punk is scheduled to fight Mickey Gall tomorrow, a relative newcomer into the professional leagues himself, in a Welterweight bout at UFC 203. Many people have blindly written off the former pro-wrestler, and we quiz him on his mental state going into the fight and how he has managed to adapt to the kill-or-be-killed world of MMA.
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Here are a few excerpts from the interview
Q) Given that this is your first MMA fight, what are the expectations you have set for yourself?
A) Well, I got 3 head coaches, we got a revolving group of people who help me out with wrestling and on top of that I train with killers, and current and former champions, so it is a lot to take in and to me that’s what it’s all about.
It’s about the journey, it’s about finding out across different disciplines and learning from everybody and all walks of life, but my mindset is my biggest tool.
Q) Brock Lesnar recently described is as being 'on a whole other planet'. In your opinion, how exactly is training for MMA different from that of WWE.
A) It’s terrible, I’m about 200 pounds right now and it’s not working good. It is exactly how I expected it to be, hard days, sometimes stressful days and then there are good days and great days.
Q) If things don't go your way this weekend against Mickey Gall, how do you envision your UFC career from there onwards? You have mentioned before that you intent to see out your contract with them. Does this mean that you will fight more Mickey Gall level fighters scouted from Dana White: Looking For A Fight?
A) Im not looking at who number 2 (next fighter) is going to be, I’m just focused on this one. I’m in this for the long haul, and I got a decent number of fights on my contract and I’m looking to fill it and have fun doing it.
Q) Do you think you would have adapted better to MMA had you been younger when you made the transition from pro-wrestling
A) I try not to focus on the ‘I’m old’ thing, you’re only old as you feel, I felt pretty old after my back surgery, after that I feel im a completely different person. A big part of me wasn’t going to restart in 2011 and this is what I would have done, but this was gonna happen regardless of when and where.
Maybe I started late but I really think that this is somebody else’s opinion. If MMA was around in the form that it’s in when I was 14-15, I definitely think that I would have taken a different path; there’s a lot of guys in the pro-wrestling industry and I ultimately didn’t want to be one of those guys that just talked about it but I wanted to do it.
Watch UFC 203: CM Punk vs Mickey Gall on 11th September 2016 @ 7:30 AM, LIVE and Exclusive on Sony SIX, Sony SIX HD, SONY ESPN, SONY ESPN HD
