CM Punk and Mike Jackson are battling this weekend at UFC 225, with one fighter leaving the arena with the first win of their professional MMA careers.
Several fights participated in the recent UFC 225 open workouts, but Punk wasn’t one of them and that was due to a battle with anxiety.
“It’s a scheduling thing and it’s an anxiety thing,” CM Punk said during a UFC 225 media scrum. “I got severe anxiety. Unfortunately it is (something I deal with in day-to-day life).”
Punk has been dealing with a lot outside of the Octagon as of late, including being found “not guilty” in a defamation case brought against him (and Colt Cabana) by Dr. Chris Amann.
The former pro wrestler has no problems when it comes the fighting aspect of MMA, but something about the training irks the fighter.
“I’m comfortable in the gym, obviously. I don’t like people — if I was training and somebody walks in and started watching, I wouldn’t know and I would be fine. It’s whatever,” he explained. “As weird as it sounds, I’ll be fine fighting, but it’s just the training. I don’t know. I’m like a weirdo. I don’t know. It just is different. I know (I was) wrestling in front of a hundred thousand people in my underwear, but it’s just different. I have anxiety. It’s a thing,”
UFC 225 takes place on Saturday, June 9 from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois with Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
