CM Punk On If He Will Sue WWE Doctor To Recover Legal Fees
As noted, CM Punk spoke to MMAFighting.com ahead of UFC 225 this Saturday in Chicago. Punk, who will be facing fellow 0-1 fighter Mike Jackson on the main card of the event, discussed a jury ruling in his favor this week in his trial against WWE Senior Ringside Physician Dr. Chris Amann. Amann was suing Punk and Colt Cabana for libel and slander for comments Punk made on Cabana's podcast in 2014.
Punk said that when the verdict was read, it was one of three times that he lost control of his emotions.
"When you're waiting for a judge to utter words that could literally decide the course of the rest of your life – and I didn't contemplate about what happens if I lose, because losing wasn't an option not for any other reason than that I told the truth – but the legal system can be confusing," Punk said. "Having sat there for days and days, and listen to the way they try to bend things to fit certain laws that are just confusing... I'm out of my element and I'm sitting there just scared out of my mind."
Cabana's verdict was read first, and Punk admitted that he was relieved that he was cleared, as he felt that Cabana was unfairly dragged into the situation. He said that he lost it when his verdict was read, and that he told wife AJ Lee that he really feels that he can move on.
Punk noted that while he doesn't have to pay anything, he spent a lot of money in legal fees for his defense. He said that to recover those fees, he would have to file his own lawsuit. Punk noted that he doesn't think he'll do that.
"I don't think it's my style," Punk said. "I don't know know what I'm going to do. This whole experience has taught me a lot... I'm on the fence. Money is just paper, but that was my life's work. I do think it was intentionally done to bleed me of money. It's over, and there's a big part of me like, it's over. Just leave me alone. I don't want anything to do with you. That's how negative that situation is, and I don't want anything to do with it. I just want to be over here and be happy [motions to his right], so I'll probably just stay over here and be happy."
Punk added that the trial was supposed to start earlier than it did, but Amann's side was filing motions and "stuff got delayed." When asked if he thinks that "they" got the trial moved to end this week to affect his fight, Punk replied, "If you know them and if you worked there, it makes a lot of sense. But I don't know."
Punk also discussed fighting in the UFC again, how this fight is different from his UFC debut, not knowing if he will fight again after Saturday and more. You can watch the whole interview at this link. We will have live round-by-round coverage of UFC 225 this Saturday, followed by a special Saturday night edition of the Wrestling Inc. podcast with Matt Morgan, Chris Featherstone and myself discussing Punk's UFC return, NJPW Dominion and more.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit MMA Fighting with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.