Bas Rutten was recently interviewed by Submission Radio and discussed his thoughts on CM Punk signing with the UFC and more. You can read some highlights below, you can check out the full interview in the video above:
If Bas believes CM Punk’s signing to UFC is a good thing
“Yeah I truly believe it’s a great thing, and you know he comes in with absolutely nothing. I mean he’s not saying “oh I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that”. He’s saying “listen I’m 36 years old. You know I always would love to do this, my time card is going to punch out at a certain age and I cannot do it anymore. Why not go to the UFC and see if I can do it now?”. And Dana’s going to be good. He’s not going to right away feed him like the Champion or something, you know? Give him a normal fight and see what he can do. And this guy with his with all his dedication – because people can talk about WWE what they want.
“I mean these guys work. They work so hard. They do 220 shows a year if not more, and that’s just shows. That’s not even without the travelling. So these guys are on the road the whole time, they have to do the shows. He’s already over, he knows how to deal with the audience, you know. The other guy that kind of comes to mind to me – and don’t hold me to it, I’m not going to say he’s a Sakuraba – but Sakuraba also was a pro wrestler who already worked, had a great ground game. But I think once you’re used to that audience and to do things under pressure, it’s a great way to come in. And if he already has a good ground game; and he said “Listen I’m still a white belt. I haven’t got my blue belt because I’m so inconsistent with my training” because he trains in Florida, I believe with Rener Gracie. And he says “I’m almost never there”, but he trains also where he lives, with all his friends, and he evolves a lot. So his ground game, I truly believe he has a solid ground game. You know the mind set is there. Once a guy like that goes to train with all the pressure that he has, that will only help him in training.
“And then and the pressure in fighting, I don’t know if that’s going to get to him, because he’s used to preforming under pressure. It’s like stand up comedians. Most of the time these guys are great actors as well, because they’re used to preforming under pressure with the live audience. That’s got to be the most nerve racking thing there is. So then when you do it in the movie, well it’s kinda easy, and I think he’s going to have that too. Only his striking, that’s what everybody of course now is thinking about. How is his striking, and can he stand with somebody? Are they going to give him a great wrestler who’s also a great striker? That would be a problem maybe. Or if they say ‘no let’s just get an even guy, also a guy who’s great on the ground and see what happens’. I see it as a great thing, great for Mixed Martial Arts because you have more eye balls coming from WWE fans. They’re going to tune in now; they’re going to see it as well. So what’s not to like?”