Phil Brooks has zero professional UFC fights. He has zero amateur fights. He’s spent his adult life as CM Punk in the world of professional wrestling, which is certainly athletic but not competitive in a traditional sense.
And still, he said that signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship was the easiest decision he’s ever made.
“It was actually a really easy decision to make,” Brooks said at the UFC 181 post-fight press conference. “Time will tell how wise of a decision it was. I’m excited. I finally feel there’s something I can put 100 percent of myself into and I will get 100 percent back.”
Brooks said the deal, which has been in the works since early November, is something he has been thinking about for a long time. He is a devout practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and trains under Rener Gracie. But he is 36 years old and has no UFC fighting experience. To hear him tell it, he’s doing this because he wants to challenge himself, and because he wants to send a message.
“I’m not going to try to give you some inspirational message. There are a lot of kids out there that look up to me, or at least I think there are,” Brooks said. “I always tell them: do not let anyone tell you that you cannot do something. Choose a path and work towards it to the best of your abilities.”
Brooks is not the first former WWE superstar to make the leap to the UFC’s Octagon. Brock Lesnar, one of the best big men ever in the world of scripted wrestling, made the leap and captured the heavyweight championship. But Brooks said he’s no Lesnar, even though he welcomes the comparisons as favorable ones.
“If someone is going to compare me to Brock Lesnar, I’ll take that. I think I’m a little cuter, though,” he said.
Brooks said he is currently 200 pounds and is targeting a debut in the middleweight division. But he won’t rule out a move to 170 pounds, he said, especially since he’s losing weight due to his new training schedule. And he has not picked a training camp, but said that he would not be cherry-picking training partners.
“I am considering them all,” Brooks said when asked about training camps. “I need to go somewhere that’s best for me. Being the WWE guy, I’ve been in gyms across the country where I walk in and guys are like, ‘hey, let’s break the fake wrestler’s arm.’ And I just wanted to roll or to sweat. So I have to make sure I’m comfortable with everybody.
Reaction to the signing was mostly negative, with many assigning freak-show connotations to the deal. Brooks said he’s staying off Twitter and staying away from the negativity for the time being, but that he knows the backlash will be severe. But, he noted that the UFC is a business, and that while he considered fighting outside of the Octagon to get his feet wet, the real big business will be his first fight.
“If I went somewhere else and lost the first fight, it would lose some luster,” Brooks said. “But I was willing to do that, and I still am.”
All quotes were obtained firsthand
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