Frank Mir on Why He Was Upset When CM Punk Had His First MMA Fight in the UFC, Doesn’t Want to Take That Approach With Pro Wrestling

– In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, former UFC champion Frank Mir discussed not wanting to take shortcuts for pro wrestling and go straight to a big promotion, similar to what CM Punk did with the UFC. Below are some highlights and a video of the complete interview.

Frank Mir on his thought process for getting into pro wrestling: “Here’s my thought process on it. Obviously, I could just jump in there and cash in on a couple times and show up. And I hope that Cain’s not doing it — like I said, I don’t care what Cain was doing. But I kind of did the same thing with standup comedy. There’s a novelty of — what’s his name, Two and a Half Men, the actor? Charlie Sheen. There’s the Charlie Sheen factor, and that’s when someone doesn’t really know what the f*** they’re doing at something, but they have such a name, they can probably fake it and make it. He did that one-man show, and it was a complete disaster. Sold out. F***ing jumped on a f***ing dollar. [Van Vliet says he went to one of the shows.] Was it as bad as people say? That’s not quite as bad as some of the reviews that scathed him, and his response was, ‘Well, f*** you. I got your money.’ I’m like, I don’t wanna be that guy. In other aspects of my life, I haven’t been that guy. When it comes to podcasting, doing standup comedy, I don’t want to just cash in, ‘Well. I have my name. I’ve done my work here.’ I think one, not only is it you’re s***ting on your fans, I think your s***ting on the other people who have been part of your sport.”

Frank Mir on being upset with CM Punk’s quick entrance into the UFC after he left WWE: “I was upset when CM Punk got a UFC fight for his debut. Well, if all of the sudden, for my first pro wrestling match, I get to jump into an AEW or a WWE match, what a f***ing asshole. So, I jump out there. I’m not going to look very good. I’m not going to do a great job. And what does that say to all the other guys who have worked and wrestled for fifty f***ing bucks for five years. It’s kind of a spit in their face. And now, I was one of the guys upset before when one other guy came over into my sport and just took another guy’s [spot]. That was my problem with it.”

Mir on how he wasn’t mad at CM Punk: “I wasn’t mad at CM Punk for getting an opportunity. I was mad because it took an opportunity away from somebody else. Well, there’s one less guy on the card now, and he’s been working his *** off to be there in this world. You just jumped over him and get to be in his spot and on a main card? That’s kind of bull****. So, I’d be hypocritical if I’d be that same guy. So, I genuinely want to learn and put in and build myself up. Now, obviously, I’ll never be at the same level as someone like Austin [Aries] who has wrestled for 20 years. I won’t be able to do a 15-minute match and just flow and figure it out five minutes before the match. … That’s not gonna happen for me. But as far as giving a genuine effort to be respectful of the guys who have put in their work and time, I want to be that guy.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Chris Van Vliet with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.