CM Punk: Conor’s comments hurt a lot of wrestler’s feelings

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is so good on a mic that he could be in the WWE. However, during the build up to UFC 202, ‘Notorious’ got a lot of publicity for taking shots at professional wrestling.

McGregor was careful to exempt dons like Vince McMahon and The Rock, but called the profession collectively a bunch of p***ies. A number of wrestlers bit at the bait, including Rick Flair, who accused McGregor of verbal swagger jacking, and talk vaguely of retribution.

McGregor wasn’t done.

What’s the main guy? John Cena, said McGregor next, as transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. He’s 40. He’s 40 years of age. He’s walking around in a luminous orange t-shirt and a headband talking about nobody can see him. We can see him right there. He’s a big fat, 40-year-old failed Mr. Olympia mother f***er.

When former WWE champion and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, and UFC interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, both failed PED tests, McGregor expressed his thoughts in three words.

“F*** them both,” he said.

Lesnar apparently bit next.

“I take s***s bigger than that kid, alright,” said Lesnar, as transcribed by Adam Guillen Jr. for MMA Mania. “Come on guys, let’s get [real]. I know all you guys play f***ing video games and you live in this f***ing false sense of reality and s***. I’m 290 f***ing pounds and this guys is 145 pounds if he’s lucky and gets up and eats his f***ing Wheaties.”

Former WWE superstar CM Punk spoke about the quarrel during a UFC 203 media conference call.

“A lot of feelings were hurt. … I can tell you that much, which I thought was a little strange,” said Punk, as transcribed Raimondi for MMA Fighting. “You’ve gotta leave the emotion out of it. These guys still don’t know.”

“It’s a hard thing to comment on, because the amount of people who responded to him made me feel like they were told to respond to him. [McGregor is] the biggest name in sports at the moment. There’s always grey areas when you involve that whole scene and you’re wondering, is this a work, is this not a work?”

CM Punk fights Mickey Gall at UFC 203 on September 10, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.