CM Punk in for the long run, not one and done
CM Punk: “This isn’t a one and done thing for me … I feel like it’d be a super waste of time if I was just training for one fight rather than making a career out of this.”
CM Punk recently joined UFC commentators Jon Anik and Kenny Florian on their podcast, and said he is in MMA for the long haul. He was asked if his debut may be pushed to 2016.
“I’ll tell you who is super OK with it, my accountant,” said Punk as transcribed by David St. Martin for MMAFighting.com. “She was straight up like, ‘Oh yea, don’t even fight this year. That would be super great.’ I know Duke has told me, and I think he’s been public with it, that he would like me for a full 12 months before he’d sign off on me fighting.
“I’ve had zero talks with Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta, Joe Silva, anybody, about an opponent, about a date. I’m thankful for that because there’s zero pressure.”
“I think a lot of people are antsy. There’s people on Twitter saying, ‘Oh, you’re never gonna fight.’ This was just announced in what, November, December? I’ve been training full time for like six months. As bad as I have the itch to get in there, I want to be as prepared as possible. I wouldn’t be upset if it got pushed to 2016.”
“I’m also looking at the big picture. This isn’t a one and done thing for me. I’m not looking to do this just once. Win, lose or draw, this is something I’m training for. I feel like it’d be a super waste of time if I was just training for one fight rather than making a career out of this. Getting beaten up at the gym every day wouldn’t be worth it if I wasn’t looking big picture.
“I’m not saying I’m going to make a title run or anything. I’m looking to maximize my time here. If I wind up fighting in 2016 I’m not going to be upset about it.”
“I’m obviously trying to cram a ton of knowledge into a short amount of time. People ask me every day when I’m fighting and the answer is always: ‘I don’t know yet.’ We haven’t even talked about it. The idea was to get as prepared as I possibly can.
“I’m learning a lot every day. I hear people saying training for a fight is harder than the actual fight. If that’s true then once I step in the Octagon I will have no problem whatsoever.”