CM Punk Talks About WWE Chants, How Long Until He Fights, Why He Chose To Fight, More

As noted, former WWE Champion CM Punk appeared on Anik-Florian today to talk about his UFC future, as well as other subjects. You can read the highlights below:

* Punk said he's making a lot of progress, but still doesn't know when he'll fight. He wants to be as prepared as possible.

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* He had offers to go to other gyms, but he thought Roufusport was the best place to be, and it happened to be close to his home.

* Punk expected the criticism and says he would have been a fool to think that it wasn't going to happen.

* He says Ben Askren was perhaps the most outspoken against Punk fighting, and now Askren is his wrestling coach. He says Askren has taught him a lot of his tricks.

* Punk has good and bad days in the gym. He says the bad ones often motivate him to take a private class or go train twice in a day.

* He thinks he's too small for 185 pounds. He looked at the size of guys like Luke Rockhold and Rashad Evans at higher weights and decided he'd probably be at 170 pounds. He says he's about 190-195 pounds now.

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* CM Punk says he isn't doing this for attention, as he wishes he could walk his dog without people getting bit. He said money is nice, but he's not doing it for that. He's doing it for the challenge and to test himself.

* "Some people think I am doing it for attention.... We're way passed trying to blend in with the public."

* He says the grind of MMA has been the hardest thing to do deal with. He says it can be tough when everyone in the gym is light years better.

* "Coaches tell me to do something and I do it."

* Punk said he didn't see the WWE tribute to Dusty Rhodes because he was watching Game of Thrones, but said that he loved Dusty Rhodes and kept in contact with him.

* He says he truly appreciates his teammates and them giving him the opportunity to train there.

* Punk says he watches every UFC event start to finish and always has. He also says he watches a lot of MMA on AXS TV.

* Punk said that both wrestling and MMA are physically taxing, but he just got used to pro wrestling.

* He says that he doesn't like to worry about what WWE is doing, but it does make him feel good inside when he hears that people are still chanting his name, saying it's flattering.

* Punk says his accountant is more than happy with the idea of him not fighting until next year. He's not had any conversations with Dana White and UFC ownership, so there's no pressure. He said Duke Roufus would like him to train for a full year before signing off on anything.

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* He says win, lose, or draw this isn't a one-off situation for him. He doesn't expect to make a title run, but wants to maximize his time. He's okay with not fighting until 2016.

L.O.S. The Butcher contributed to this article.

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