Marc Raimondi of MMAFighting.com is featuring an interview with former WWE star Phil “CM Punk” Brooks where he addresses a number of topics including Punk’s last fight for the UFC and his current interest level in being involved with pro wrestling.
Punk on his last UFC fight against Mike Jackson at UFC 225:
“The reason I don’t like talking about it is I feel like people always offer up excuses and I feel like talking about anything that was going on in my life leading up to that fight would come off as an excuse. So I’d rather just leave it at, Mike was a better man that night. I for sure had problems, but it’s nothing I’d want to vocalize to diminish his win. That’s not what I’m about. That fight was, so to speak, it was yesterday. I see sometimes fighters will complain about things after they fight and it’s just about getting back in the gym and just kind of focusing on the next one. As I said before, hats off to Mike Jackson.”
Confirming he’s still part of the UFC roster and getting a call from Dana White:
“Yeah, I am. Unfortunately, yeah. I still have to pee in cups. Huge fan of wasting my time peeing in a cup. He (Dana White) could also call me tomorrow and be like, ‘Hey, you’re cut.’ And I’ll be like, ‘Oh, great.’”
His thoughts on Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks being rumored to start up their own wrestling promotion in the new year:
“I think at this point that whatever those guys decide to do will be great for them and their families. If I was asked what I would do or what I would say to them — because they could obviously go to WWE whenever they want — it’s just a matter of is this what’s best for your family? And I think we live in a time now where WWE is not the end-all, be-all. I don’t think it has been for quite some time. I think the stigma that it is is still there and probably will persist for many, many years. But enough people have been there and left that can, I guess, extoll the knowledge of, ‘Hey, you know what, the place ain’t all that.’”
If he has any interest in being involved with that venture or wrestling in general:
“I would always listen. I would listen to them, because just like Dave, I like the Young Bucks. I text with Matt on and off. But business is business. I know Cody was out there in the media saying that an offer was made [for the All In event Sept. 1]. An offer was not made. Calling me up or texting me saying, ‘Hey, if you want to come to the show and do something, we would love that’ is not an offer. That’s not an offer. There’s other things. There’s a couple more loose ends that I’m still trying to tie up to fully absolve me from the world of pro wrestling. I feel like I’ve still been attached to it since the day that I left it and that’s mostly because of fugazi lawyers and such. But we’re wrapping all that up and that’ll come to an end. And once I’m truly free, we can explore the world and just float and hang out.”