Kurt Angle Talks Backstage Match With Brock Lesnar, King Mo, Batista, Joining TUF & More
Recently, former WWE and current TNA star Kurt Angle made an appearance of MMA Uncensored and discussed a number of things. Topics included; King Mo in TNA and Dave Bautista in MMA, legitimately fighting Brock Lesnar and whether or not he would ever try MMA. Here are the highlights:
On the transitions of King Mo into wrestling and Davie Bautista into MMA: "Well, I think King Mo is a natural because he has a lot of charisma. He's has to learn the techniques. He's actually called me probably every other week asking me when will the soreness go away. Pro wrestling is very grueling, you take a lot of punishment.
"But I think Bautista is a special talent. I think he's a very tough guy, I think he's going to do very well in MMA. He wasn't an amateur wrestler like most pro wrestlers that cross over usually were amateurs wrestlers like Brock Lesnar or Bobby Lashley. But, Bautista will do really well. He's a tough kid, he's got a great knockout punch. I know that for sure because I was up in WWE and I've seen him have a couple of fights. [Laughs.]"
On whether he would have chosen MMA over wrestling looking back on it now: "Yes, I would have done MMA if I would have known that it would have blown up the way it did. I'd say, in 1999, I joined the WWE and pro wrestling and then went to TNA. If MMA would have blown up, I would have done it. I would have gone full blown into it. But, I was so far into it, main eventing WrestleManias, that there was no way for me to turn back. I do love pro wrestling and being with TNA — I don't regret it, but it just wasn't the right time. The money was in pro wrestling at the time.
On comments Dana White said about Kurt agreeing to be on The Ultimate Fighter 10 and then having the deal fall through: "That is true. The hard part about it was that Dana and I never had a problem with money. I met with Dana at different times — two times to be exact — where I went out to Las Vegas and sat down with Dana White. I even took the UFC physical. The problem was the starting date. He wanted me ready in four and a half weeks. I did not think I would be ready at that particular time.
"I didn't want to go in there half-hearted, I didn't want to embarrass myself. I wanted 3-6 months but at the time, he couldn't give me that time. I respect Dana White and his decision and my decision, I hope he can respect that as well."
On whether or not he and Brock had a legitimate wrestling match in WWE and who won: "A, it is true. What happened was Brock Lesnar came in and he said I was too small and he was too big for me. I kept challenging him every week. Eventually, we got in the ring and we went at it. I'll just say that I got the better of him but I can tell you that Brock Lesnar is an animal, he's a beast. At his prime — and I want to say before he got sick — I wanna say he's one of the baddest guys on the planet.
"He had the strength, the quickness, the finesse. you don't have a guy that size that can do the things he did. He wasn't just a great pro wrestler, he was a great MMA fighter. He would have gotten better if he didn't get sick. I think that the sickness that he had definitely brought him down a couple notches to where he really wasn't the real Brock Lesnar.
On whether he would and wouldn't try MMA in the future: "I can't say yes or no. I'm 43. I tried out for the Olympics last year and I kept getting injured. It was one of those things where I was wrestling great, I think I could have made the team but I just kept getting injured. I'm 43-years old, my body is breaking down. The pro wrestling hasn't helped me.
"It's probably no, but if the offers good enough, you never know. Kurt Angle might be in the MMA octagon."
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