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CM Punk couldn’t help but laugh after learning that Seth Rollins called him out for an MMA fight in the UFC ahead of their triple threat match at WrestleMania 41 on Saturday.
The two-time UFC fighter, who returned to WWE in 2023 following a decade away from the promotion, addressed the callout after Rollins admitted that he would train MMA just for the sake of settling his differences with Punk in the cage. While Rollins has no formal martial arts background, he promised he would put in a full training camp for the chance to face Punk in a real fight.
“That might be the only one I do but you put me in there with any of the other guys in my weight class, I’m out,” Rollins said. “But Dana [White], you want to make some money, book it, brother.”
The disdain shared between the two WWE superstars is well documented, but if Rollins wants a fight, Punk says he has to look no further than their match coming up in Las Vegas.
“Look, I’m going to punch this motherf*cker in the face on Saturday,” Punk told The Ringer Wrestling Show. “He’s talking about wanting to do an MMA fight. All right, I’ll see you Saturday kid. Welcome to hell.”
Of course, Punk famously signed with the UFC in 2014 after his initial exit from WWE and he eventually made his debut two years later. He ultimately suffered a submission loss to Mickey Gall in his debut and then dropped a decision to Mike Jackson in his second and final MMA fight in 2018 but that result was overturned after Jackson tested positive for marijuana.
While Punk remains an avid MMA fan — he actually sympathized with the emotions Diego Lopes faced after his loss to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 314 during the same interview — he’s now turned his full attention back to his career in professional wrestling.
That said, Punk remains close with many of his former training partners including UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad so maybe a return to the octagon isn’t totally out of the question.
“I really appreciate my time in MMA,” Punk said. “I really appreciate that everyone can look at that and underestimate me. I think it’s the most fantastic thing in the world.”
Punk gets his hands on Rollins and Roman Reigns when they meet in a triple threat match headlining the first of the two-night WrestleMania 41 event being held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday and Sunday.
