By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Former WWE star/current UFC roster member C.M. Punk opened up about a wide variety of topics in his annual on-camera interview with MMAFighting.com reporter Ariel Helwani from Punk's Chicago home.

UFC is in Chicago this weekend for a "UFC on Fox" fight card that Punk says he will attend. Punk noted it will be the second time he attends UFC in Chicago following the infamous series of events in January 2014. That was when Punk attended a "UFC on Fox" card the night before the Royal Rumble, traveled to Pittsburgh for the Rumble where he ended up wrestling his final match, and walked away from WWE the next night at Raw. In the middle of that sequence of events was Helwani, who interviewed Punk that weekend at his Chicago home.

Punk and Helwani agreed that Punk was in a much better place for Thursday's interview than back in January 2014 when Punk was miserable and days away from leaving WWE. Punk says he did not know at the time that he was about to leave WWE, as the final straw had not happened yet.

Notably, the interview does not include discussion of Punk's current legal battle with WWE physician Chris Amann. Punk is accused of slandering Dr. Amann in a podcast interview with Colt Cabana in November 2014 when he talked about the "final straw" events from January 2014.

Highlights of Helwani's present-day interview:

- Punk commented on his wife, A.J. Lee, deciding to leave WWE in April.

Punk was asked if he was relieved when A.J. left so that he did not have to remain connected to the product or company. "No," Punk said. "I really think she was working somewhere and doing what she loved, and people were making it hard for her to work there. It was a crappy situation. They made it so it was no longer ideal."

Punk said he would support A.J. if she decided to return to WWE, though. "She could go back tomorrow, I wouldn't care. It's her decision," Punk said. Notably, A.J. was in the room during the on-camera interview and made a cameo about 35 minutes into the 45-minute interview.

- Punk said he wants to have his UFC debut fight by the end of the year to fulfill his desire to fight within one year of announcing the UFC deal. But, he and his accountant are also thinking about the beginning of 2016. Punk half-seriously said his accountant is concerned about a big payday at the end of the year affecting his taxes.

Punk said ideally he would have his first UFC fight in Las Vegas at year-end or beginning of 2016, then have his second fight in Chicago later in 2016. He said there would be too much pressure having his first fight in Chicago.

Punk noted he's not looking to have just one fight, which is the perception from the outside. Asked if this is not a one-time thing, Punk said, "I hope not. I got a sweet deal. Why would I want to fight once?"

- Punk said he will be marketed in UFC as "C.M. Punk," not his real name of Phil Brooks. He also revealed that his entire MMA training at Roufusport in Milwaukee and journey to his first fight is being filmed for a documentary/TV special by an ESPN filmmaker.

Regarding his living situation, Punk confirmed that he and A.J. recently rented a house in Milwaukee so that he could train 2-3 times per day throughout the week "to absorb information" without having to travel back-and-forth to Chicago.

- Punk said the toughest part of his MMA training is transitioning out of the pro wrestler mentality of taking care of his opponent. He said Brock Lesnar had the same issue of still being in "wrestler mode." He said a swift punch to the face usually wakes him up to understand he's training for a real fight.

- Punk said part of him wishes he would have transitioned to MMA before he signed his last WWE contract four years ago, but he's fine with it because he does not have regrets about his career.

- Punk has visibly slimmed down to 190 pounds, and he says he will slim down even more to 170 pounds for his fighting weight.

He also said he plans to take advantage of UFC's marketing deal with Reebok, which will put an extra $2,500 in his pocket without having to do the hustle of finding sponsors. Punk noted that he worked out his UFC deal himself without a manager or agent.

This led to an in-depth discussion of how Punk joined UFC. Punk went back to October 2014 when he was sitting on the couch with Cliff Compton watching baseball playoffs and movies when UFC president Dana White called him.

Punk recalled White and UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta saying they wanted to meet with him about joining UFC, which took Punk by surprise since he wasn't sure if they were serious. At the time, he thought it was a joke, but he figured they thought it would make for good business.

Punk noted that he was still in the middle of legal issues with WWE stemming from his departure in January 2014. He said that he was trying to wrap things up before moving on with his career, which was going to be MMA training anyways. "UFC just expedited the process," he said.

Punk said that White and Fertitta presented him with a deal, answered his questions about why they wanted him to be on the roster, and delayed a decision so he could talk to A.J., who was on an international WWE tour. "Then, everything snowballed from there," Punk said, noting that UFC initially wanted to announce his signing in November, but pushed it back to December.

Asked why he thinks UFC was so adamant about getting a deal done, Punk said he figures it was to beat other promotions to the punch in addition to "being good business." Punk noted he received feelers from other companies before UFC contacted him, but nothing serious.

Helwani asked if he shopped himself around before UFC signed him. Punk said that was not the case because he was not mentally in a position to move on to do anything else because he was still tied up with WWE. "I wanted to wrap it up, move on, and start training for MMA," casually entering the MMA world. But, now that he's in UFC, he figures he sinks or swims on the biggest stage.

- Punk confirmed that he does not watch wrestling on TV anymore, but still hangs out with wrestlers from time-to-time when they're in Chicago.

Punk relayed a text from Daniel Bryan congratulating him on the UFC deal. He noted that they aren't close friends, just social, and have not spoken much since he left WWE due to it being like a separate world. "It was cool of him to reach out," Punk said.

- Overall, Punk said he hopes his WWE journey and now UFC journey inspire people to pursue their goals. He said if he can change one life and talk to that person about it, then it's worth it for him.

"I have the reputation of being a jerk because I tend to not let people get away with b.s., but I appreciate fans," a refreshed and reinvigorated Punk said.



[ Video URL: https://youtu.be/PrvgwnzJOLo ]

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE NEWS: Superstars SPOILERS - Results from Chicago Raw

WWE NETWORK: Monday, Oct. 12 Schedule - Raw pre-show, Sting DVD preview

WWE NEWS: Lana & Rusev reportedly engaged - follow the interesting 2015 timeline