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Video C.M. Punk held a media conference Wednesday in Cleveland following an open workout to preview his debut fight at UFC 203 on Saturday night.
Among the highlights of the rapid-fire interview questions:
– Punk said it’s “poetic” that his first UFC fight is in the same building that he quit WWE back in January 2014.
“It was a breaking point in both sides. It was something that needed to happen. It needed to happen dramatically,” Punk said. Punk added that he knows the Quicken Loans Arena so well from wrestling several times that he “feels at home.”
– Punk said he expects to have the butterflies and nerves before his debut fight. He said he looks forward to experiencing that again after losing that feeling at the end of his WWE run.
“There was a long time that before I would go through a curtain, I would just sit there and be like, ‘Yeah, they’re not coming. They’re gone. And they were gone for a long time.’ I’m glad they’re back,” Punk said.
– Punk was asked to compare the WWE travel schedule to doing a full fight camp preparing for UFC 203. “Traveling sucks. I just got burnt out on it,” Punk said. Whereas, doing the UFC training, he was able to go home at the end of the day and be around his own family and sleep in his own bed.
– Punk predicted victory, saying he’s confident in his pre-fight training and not over-scouting Mickey Gall to where he’s thinking too much or paralyzing himself in the cage.
Punk added that he looks forward to fighting again after Saturday. “I’m in this for the long haul for sure,” Punk said.
– Regarding Punk being allowed to fight in Ohio, Punk heeled on individuals he described as “hack journalists” who brought up Punk’s license status.
“They’re worried about my well-being? No, they’re not. They’re hack journalists who f’n want to stir up a bunch of s— for no reason because they don’t get invited to this. Boo-boo face,” Punk said.
[ Video via MMAFighting.com ]
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