CM Punk: 'If Anthony Pettis Says I Have Heart, I Have Heart'

CM Punk: 'If Anthony Pettis Says I Have Heart, I Have Heart'

CM Punk opens up on his training partners and preparation ahead of his UFC debut Sept. 10 at UFC 203.

Aug 30, 2016 by Jim Edwards
CM Punk: 'If Anthony Pettis Says I Have Heart, I Have Heart'
No one will ever be able to say CM Punk is hiding. And with his official MMA debut set to go down at UFC 203 on Sept. 10, the former WWE star turned fighter is more visible than ever.

Since starting his training at Roufusport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Punk has given an all-access view of his training and development since the start of his journey. Yesterday, Punk invited the media to watch him take part in a training session run by head coach Duke Roufus. After the session, Punk then spoke to the media about his upcoming fight with Mickey Gall at UFC 203.

"No one is more excited than me," Punk told 120 Sports. "This has been a hell of a journey and the destination is right around the corner. In two shorts weeks and just one more week of hard training, that feels awesome--I see the pizza at the end of the tunnel," he said, referring to his current weight-cutting.

"I feel great; your cameras saw me sparring. I'm feeling super good and the cameras have caught the entire journey. You will be able to see me go from horrible to maybe decent. I know how I'm doing and what my coaches and teammates tell me I'm doing and I feel on point."

Ever since the announcement that Punk had joined the UFC back in 2014, the former WWE star has been plagued by one question--why? Since day one, Punk has always explained himself one way--he's doing it because he wants to do it.

"It just looks like so much fun," Punk said without hesitation. "I've always said that. I've been a fan from the early Ken Shamrock, Royce Gracie days until now. It's just the way the sport evolves and the way each elite fighter has to show up on fight night. There are just so many variables, and to me, that's what makes it so awesome. So for me, it just all looks like so much fun, and that's the whole genesis of how this started.

"I'd be sitting there with Lorenzo [Fertitta] and Dana [White] and they'd lean over and say, 'Have you ever thought about doing this?' and then I'd say, 'Yeah, I think about it all the time.'"

One of the big questions surrounding Punk's fight on Sept. 10 is what fighting style he will adopt when he enters the Octagon for the first time. Punk wasn't showing his hand yesterday, but said he had been training all areas of MMA and not just focusing on one discipline.

"You're going to see a guy that wants to win," Punk said with a wry smile on his face. "I'm ready wherever the fight needs to go. I'm prepared to get in someone's face. I'm prepared if I need to defend. It doesn't matter to me because I'm not a jiu-jitsu guy. I'm not a wrestling guy. If anything, being here [Roufusport], I'm a striking guy. It will be interesting to see where it goes."

Punk has been training alongside the likes of the Pettis brothers [UFC veterans Anthony and Sergio] at Roufusport, and both fighters have been highly complimentary about the work he has put in. Punk said working alongside such elite training partners has helped him improve quicker than he could ever have hoped for.

"Anthony is obviously a world champion, and he's going for his second belt in a different weight class," Punk said. "To me, I look at the room, and I see guys like Anthony and, you know, he lost three fights in a row, and maybe if he'd lost that fourth he would've got cut--you just don't know. Just watching him pick himself up and coming in here when he had the biggest weight cut of his life and be exhausted--it inspired me.

"I see guys in the room here every day that belong in the UFC, and then there's me, you know. I got a shot, and instead of them being pissed about it and saying, 'Why me?' they take that and they work harder. Guys like Mike 'Biggie' Rhodes, Gerald Meerschaert, Craig Eckleberg--I'll get in trouble if I name more people because I'll forget somebody.

"But these guys mean the world to me. My coaches and my team are just that--they are mine. We are a very close-knit team here, and if Anthony Pettis, world champion, says I have heart, then I've got heart."

Since the first announcement of his arrival in the UFC in September 2014, Punk has received plenty of criticism seemingly from all corners. Reflecting on it now, Punk says it was to be expected. He's just used it for motivation to get where he is today, and he's determined to make more than just one appearance in the Octagon.

"Haters always motivate," Punk said. "If you look down through history, people tend to hate things they either don't always understand or what not. Maybe there is one person out there who will see me and stop hating on me and start focusing on themselves a little more. That's good, and that will make the world a better place.

"This isn't a one-and-done by any means. I want to be the best me I can be and do me and my coaches proud. I want to not dirty up my face so my wife still loves me and make some money and buy my dogs some treats," he then joked.

After being wished luck for his fight on Sept. 10, Punk finished with a signature line.

"Luck is for losers."