Former NCAA champ Jordan Oliver explains why following former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar's footsteps to WWE "wasn't the route" for him

Jordan Oliver recently opened up about his upcoming MMA debut at Bellator 298 and explained what ultimately steered him away from following former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar's footsteps from NCAA to WWE.

While speaking to Vibe 105.5FM Toronto, the former two-time NCAA Div I National wrestling champion noted that he was a big WWE fan growing up. Despite his fandom growing up, he mentioned that his size is what led to him pursuing a transition to MMA rather than WWE like Lesnar had done in 2000:

"I know Gable [Steveson], I've met Kurt Angle, I know Brock [Lesnar], those are some big big biscuits... After growing up and getting into wrestling and then seeing my future, my size. Now if I had a bigger frame, WWE would be no question, I would love to do stuff." [13:32 - 14:14]

Jordan Oliver also noted that MMA became a more seemless transition because his size is more suitable for it, especially considering there are weight-divisions. He mentioned that even though he didn't pursue pro wrestling, he enjoys seeing that a number of his friends and fellow collegiate wrestlers are in WWE, saying:

"You got guys like Jacob Kasper and Tracy Hancock, so you're seeing all these wrestlers start to transfer over, which is pretty cool because now not only do I already love to watch it, now I get to watch some of my friends...So, it's sweet but it wasn't the route for me." [14:36 - 15:08]

It will be interesting to see how Jordan Oliver performs in his MMA debut as he could be a fighter to keep an eye in Bellator.

Check out the full video:

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Jordan Oliver expresses his excitement for Lionel Messi playing for Inter Miami CF

In addition to WWE, Bellator newcomer Jordan Oliver is also quite the soccer fan.

During the affromentioned interview, the former two-time NCAA Div I National wrestling champion was wearing a Juventus jersey and noted that it was one of his favorite jerseys that he owns. He then mentioned that he purchased a Lionel Messi Inter Miami CF jersey and noted that he intends to go to a home game after his Bellator debut, saying:

"I had to get the [Lionel] Messi jersey...And I gotta go and watch him. We're only 40 minutes from Miami, so I'm like, 'Listen, when I get back from my [Bellator] debut, I'm gonna catch Messi at a soccer game.' It's almost like you have to, right? It's almost like going to watch Michael Jordan play with the [Chicago] Bulls." [15:58 - 16:16]