Brooks bringing MMA fantasy to life: 'I can, so I’m doing it' | Sports | Toronto Sun
DALLAS — There might have been no Hell in the Cell, no Wrestlemania streak.
If the UFC’s rise to prominence had taken place a couple decades earlier, some of the WWE’s most iconic moments might never had taken place.
At a media event during which Phil ‘CM Punk’ Brooks spoke candidly about an array of topics ranging from training at Wisconsin’s Roufusport MMA Academy to his relationship with former WWE/UFC crossover star Brock Lesnar, Brooks revealed that he wasn’t the only WWE star who harboured aspirations of competing in mixed martial arts.
“I think the Undertaker said it, I think there’s tonnes of guys (in WWE) who, if the money had been different in the ’90s or whatever, they would have done (MMA),” said Brooks, who was signed by the UFC in December despite having a grand total of zero professional fights to his name.
“There’s a lot of guys in wrestling who have this MMA fantasy and they never act on it. I don’t want to be one of those people who sits there and says ‘I would have done that’ or “I should have done that.’ I can, so I’m doing it.”
Questions about whether ‘doing it’ is, in fact, a good idea for a 37-year-old MMA rookie won’t subside until Brooks proves himself in the octagon, but it’s hard to find fault in his approach so far.
After announcing that he’d signed with UFC, Brooks considered his training camp options before signing up with Roufusport. The Wisconsin MMA school is home to several top fighters, including Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren and UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who Brooks accompanied to the ring on Saturday night at UFC 185.
“Every day when I walk in there I think I’m still the lowest guy on the totem pole,” Brooks said. “I’m walking into their school and there’s fighters there who maybe should already be in the UFC and guys fighting on lower circuits who could kick my (expletive), and they’re kind to me.”
There’s still no date set for Brooks’ first UFC fight — he insists there’s been no pressure to rush into a bout — and he says he’ll defer to his coach, Duke Roufus, when it comes time to decide when he’ll step into the octagon.
Roufus has told Brooks he needs to train full-time for at least a year, so it’s unlikely that the former WWE champion will be making his debut any time before the dying days of 2015.
In the meantime, he’ll be devoting himself to his training and enjoying the considerably less hectic schedule that comes with being off the pro wrestling circuit.
He hasn’t cut all his ties with his former colleagues, though, and has been able to go to Lesnar for advice about the transition, although not quite as much as he might like.
“I’ve talked to him once, he lives in the middle of nowhere where there’s no cell service, he’s in the middle of like, Saskatchewan, I don’t even know,” Brooks said. “I asked him what the hardest thing for him to do was, because obviously he’s a freak athlete but something had to be difficult, and I find it’s the exact same thing I’m having difficulty with, which is learning to let go.
“Striking or sparring is completely different, somebody’s trying to punch me in the face and I’m trying to punch someone in the face, but often I’ll find I’m too light on guys if I’m (working on his ground game.
“My hips aren’t heavy enough. It’s like the old pro-wrestling kicking in, and he had the same problem.”
With Lesnar’s WWE contract set to run out in a matter of weeks and whispers growing louder about a UFC return for the former heavyweight champion, Brooks was happy to offer his opinion on his old friend’s prospects.
“I’d love to see Brock back,” Brooks said. “I think it’d be good for Brock and it would just be fun to have him around.”
DALLAS — There might have been no Hell in the Cell, no Wrestlemania streak.
If the UFC’s rise to prominence had taken place a couple decades earlier, some of the WWE’s most iconic moments might never had taken place.
At a media event during which Phil ‘CM Punk’ Brooks spoke candidly about an array of topics ranging from training at Wisconsin’s Roufusport MMA Academy to his relationship with former WWE/UFC crossover star Brock Lesnar, Brooks revealed that he wasn’t the only WWE star who harboured aspirations of competing in mixed martial arts.
“I think the Undertaker said it, I think there’s tonnes of guys (in WWE) who, if the money had been different in the ’90s or whatever, they would have done (MMA),” said Brooks, who was signed by the UFC in December despite having a grand total of zero professional fights to his name.
“There’s a lot of guys in wrestling who have this MMA fantasy and they never act on it. I don’t want to be one of those people who sits there and says ‘I would have done that’ or “I should have done that.’ I can, so I’m doing it.”
Questions about whether ‘doing it’ is, in fact, a good idea for a 37-year-old MMA rookie won’t subside until Brooks proves himself in the octagon, but it’s hard to find fault in his approach so far.
After announcing that he’d signed with UFC, Brooks considered his training camp options before signing up with Roufusport. The Wisconsin MMA school is home to several top fighters, including Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren and UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who Brooks accompanied to the ring on Saturday night at UFC 185.
“Every day when I walk in there I think I’m still the lowest guy on the totem pole,” Brooks said. “I’m walking into their school and there’s fighters there who maybe should already be in the UFC and guys fighting on lower circuits who could kick my (expletive), and they’re kind to me.”
There’s still no date set for Brooks’ first UFC fight — he insists there’s been no pressure to rush into a bout — and he says he’ll defer to his coach, Duke Roufus, when it comes time to decide when he’ll step into the octagon.
Roufus has told Brooks he needs to train full-time for at least a year, so it’s unlikely that the former WWE champion will be making his debut any time before the dying days of 2015.
In the meantime, he’ll be devoting himself to his training and enjoying the considerably less hectic schedule that comes with being off the pro wrestling circuit.
He hasn’t cut all his ties with his former colleagues, though, and has been able to go to Lesnar for advice about the transition, although not quite as much as he might like.
“I’ve talked to him once, he lives in the middle of nowhere where there’s no cell service, he’s in the middle of like, Saskatchewan, I don’t even know,” Brooks said. “I asked him what the hardest thing for him to do was, because obviously he’s a freak athlete but something had to be difficult, and I find it’s the exact same thing I’m having difficulty with, which is learning to let go.
“Striking or sparring is completely different, somebody’s trying to punch me in the face and I’m trying to punch someone in the face, but often I’ll find I’m too light on guys if I’m (working on his ground game.
“My hips aren’t heavy enough. It’s like the old pro-wrestling kicking in, and he had the same problem.”
With Lesnar’s WWE contract set to run out in a matter of weeks and whispers growing louder about a UFC return for the former heavyweight champion, Brooks was happy to offer his opinion on his old friend’s prospects.
“I’d love to see Brock back,” Brooks said. “I think it’d be good for Brock and it would just be fun to have him around.”
