Former WWE wrestler CM Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, vows to
give his "100 percent" when he competes in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship (UFC) next year.
Brooks caused a stir when he announced that he had signed with the UFC, making the announcement during the broadcast of the UFC 181 pay-per-view Saturday in Las Vegas (Sunday Manila time).
Speaking to reporters after the event, the 36-year-old Brooks made it clear that he was not trying to "give some inspirational message or anything like that."
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"There are a lot of kids that look up to me, maybe. I don't know," he said, as quoted by ESPN.com. "I always tell them, 'Don't let anybody tell you you can't do something. If you want to do something and it doesn't harm anybody else, do it. Choose a path and work toward it to the best of your ability.'"
"That's all I'm doing here," he stressed. "I'm 36 years young. I'm going to give it 100 percent, and I don't let anybody tell me I can't do something."
Brooks also admitted that he has something to prove to himself by joining the UFC.
"People close to me know how long I've talked about doing this," he said, referring to mixed martial arts as a whole, and not just the UFC.
"It isn't so much about the UFC. It's about being what I know I have inside of me. I want to prove not only to the world, but more importantly to myself," he added.
"This is something I've thought about for a long time that I haven't been able to do. Once the opportunity presented itself, I would be a fool to say no."
Brooks said he and the UFC are a "perfect match," especially with former stars like Brock Lesnar having already set a precedent as a former WWE "superstar" who made the jump to the Octagon.
"You hear positive and negative things about Brock," said Brooks, who last competed in the WWE in January. "'Oh, Brock was just a wrestler, and he got knocked out.' No, dude. Brock was the heavyweight champion."
"If somebody was going to compare me to Brock, I'll take that," he added.
At the same time, Brooks admitted it was a conscious business decision on his side to compete in the UFC rather than take a fight in a different mixed martial arts promotion.
"I just think that's where (UFC president) Dana (White) and (UFC CEO) Lorenzo (Fertitta) come in and say the big business is your first fight," he said. "So, win, lose, or draw, if I fought somewhere else, maybe a little luster would have gotten knocked off."
"Make no mistake: this is very much (about) business as well as fighting. There are both sides of it, and I think they kind of merge perfectly. I was willing (to fight outside of the UFC). It's weird," he added.
"This is something I'm doing for myself, to test myself. It's certainly not all about the money, but it's also nice to get paid."
Brooks figures to be a huge draw for the UFC right off the bat, the same way Lesnar was when he joined the promotion in 2007. He said he plans to fight at middleweight or welterweight, and that he is already hard at work in training.
"I think I could – I don't want to say 'easily' get to 185 – I'm going to do a test weight cut," he said. "I'm going to use all the contacts I already have to get the best nutritionist and see how I feel."
"I'm not ruling out 170. I've got to test my body, but 185 is my most likely target," he added.
As for the reaction of fans and even fellow fighters to his move to the UFC, Brooks said he is not paying attention to anything that's being said on social media.
"I'm staying… off Twitter right now," he said. "I've got friends and family texting me, patting me on the back, (saying) congratulations. I'm staying away from the negativity for the night."
Brooks caused a stir when he announced that he had signed with the UFC, making the announcement during the broadcast of the UFC 181 pay-per-view Saturday in Las Vegas (Sunday Manila time).
Speaking to reporters after the event, the 36-year-old Brooks made it clear that he was not trying to "give some inspirational message or anything like that."
<script height="578px" width="1028px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#ec=gzdmI1cjo2mUsmbOd6E2YK7D7JGGnecZ&pbid=df56043a8061451d89897bbd6ee37d9a"></script>
"There are a lot of kids that look up to me, maybe. I don't know," he said, as quoted by ESPN.com. "I always tell them, 'Don't let anybody tell you you can't do something. If you want to do something and it doesn't harm anybody else, do it. Choose a path and work toward it to the best of your ability.'"
"That's all I'm doing here," he stressed. "I'm 36 years young. I'm going to give it 100 percent, and I don't let anybody tell me I can't do something."
Brooks also admitted that he has something to prove to himself by joining the UFC.
"People close to me know how long I've talked about doing this," he said, referring to mixed martial arts as a whole, and not just the UFC.
"It isn't so much about the UFC. It's about being what I know I have inside of me. I want to prove not only to the world, but more importantly to myself," he added.
"This is something I've thought about for a long time that I haven't been able to do. Once the opportunity presented itself, I would be a fool to say no."
Brooks said he and the UFC are a "perfect match," especially with former stars like Brock Lesnar having already set a precedent as a former WWE "superstar" who made the jump to the Octagon.
"You hear positive and negative things about Brock," said Brooks, who last competed in the WWE in January. "'Oh, Brock was just a wrestler, and he got knocked out.' No, dude. Brock was the heavyweight champion."
"If somebody was going to compare me to Brock, I'll take that," he added.
At the same time, Brooks admitted it was a conscious business decision on his side to compete in the UFC rather than take a fight in a different mixed martial arts promotion.
"I just think that's where (UFC president) Dana (White) and (UFC CEO) Lorenzo (Fertitta) come in and say the big business is your first fight," he said. "So, win, lose, or draw, if I fought somewhere else, maybe a little luster would have gotten knocked off."
"Make no mistake: this is very much (about) business as well as fighting. There are both sides of it, and I think they kind of merge perfectly. I was willing (to fight outside of the UFC). It's weird," he added.
"This is something I'm doing for myself, to test myself. It's certainly not all about the money, but it's also nice to get paid."
Brooks figures to be a huge draw for the UFC right off the bat, the same way Lesnar was when he joined the promotion in 2007. He said he plans to fight at middleweight or welterweight, and that he is already hard at work in training.
"I think I could – I don't want to say 'easily' get to 185 – I'm going to do a test weight cut," he said. "I'm going to use all the contacts I already have to get the best nutritionist and see how I feel."
"I'm not ruling out 170. I've got to test my body, but 185 is my most likely target," he added.
As for the reaction of fans and even fellow fighters to his move to the UFC, Brooks said he is not paying attention to anything that's being said on social media.
"I'm staying… off Twitter right now," he said. "I've got friends and family texting me, patting me on the back, (saying) congratulations. I'm staying away from the negativity for the night."
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