Phil “CM Punk” Brooks
DALLAS – As MMA and UFC newcomer Phil “CM Punk” Brooks prepares for his first professional fight, the former WWE star has what at first sounds like a bold declaration: MMA is “the easiest job in the world.”
But the 36-year-old Brooks, who’s working with Duke Roufus’ Roufusport camp in Milwaukee ahead of his highly anticipated debut, said it’s easy because it’s something he’s enjoying immensely.
“From my point of view, I have the easiest job in the world,” Brooks told MMAjunkie during a media session on Friday. “I just have to train every day and bust my ass every day. … Literally it’s the easiest job in the world to me. All I have to do is work really, really, really, really hard. It’s easy to me.
“I’m not afraid of hard work.”
After Brooks signed with the UFC in December, a number of detractors spoke out about the world’s top MMA organization signing a 30-something MMA neophyte to a contract. However, the announcement certainly brought the organization – and Brooks – a fair share of attention.
He then made a wise move and hooked up with one of the sport’s more prominent gyms, where Brooks admitted he has “good days and bad days.”
That’s to be expected, though, when you’re rolling with world-class and top-ranked fighters such as ONE Championship welterweight titleholder/Olympic wrestler Ben Askren, as well as UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, whom Brooks will accompany to the cage for tonight’s UFC 185 pay-per-view headliner.
“Obviously, if I’m rolling with Anthony, it’s a little bit frustrating because he’s teaching me the entire time; he’s like talking, having a casual conversation, and I’m just trying to hold him down,” Brooks said with a laugh. “I don’t think anybody is taking it easy on me. Nobody is trying to take advantage of me. But that’s why I like it.
“Everybody is super nice, but they’re also not taking it easy on me, and I appreciate that.”
Phil “CM Punk” Brooks
In fact, Roufusport has worked diligently not only to get Brooks’ fighting skills up to snuff, but also to prepare him for the bright lights and fight-night jitters that will surely accompany his eventual MMA debut. For his first sparring session, Roufus even tried to mimic a fight-night environment.
For Brooks, that meant warming up in a back room, getting his hands taped, walking to the cage with his cornermen in tow, a full gym with “easily over a hundred” spectators waiting, and Roufus “was Bruce Buffer basically” while introducing him.
“I think that was just basically their way to see if I was nervous or scared or whatever, but for me, it was just another day at the office,” Brooks said. “Everybody was hootin’ and hollerin’. I heard someone yell, ‘Kick his ass!’ Kick my ass, that is.”
After the session, Roufus said Brooks “has some things to work on but he showed a lot of potential.
So when will Brooks do it for real? When will “CM Punk” make his long-awaited debut (likely as a welterweight) and become the next pro-wrestling-to-MMA crossover?
According to Brooks, Roufus wants a full year with his new student, which could push his debut to 2016. Brooks, though, has other ideas.
“I probably want to fight sooner than Duke and the rest of the coaches want me to,” he said. “But that’s just because I want to fight. It’s just something that … looks so goddamn fun.”
For more on UFC 185, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
* * * *
Check out Brooks’ hilariously awkward Q&A session with UFC fans earlier this year:
Filed under: Featured, News, UFC
No comments:
Post a Comment