Goldberg Says He Would Have Went Into MMA Instead of Wrestling If The Pay Were Up To Modern Standards

In an interview with Nothing Left Unsaid (via Fightful), Goldberg said he would have likely joined MMA instead of wrestling after his football career if the pay were better. MMA fighters got paid a lot less in the 90s than they do today, as UFC wasn’t as well-known then.

He said: “100000% percent. No question. Back in the day, the guys who were fighting at UFC were training at my gym. I owned a gym after Main Event Fitness called Obaki Fight School in Atlanta. It was the largest MMA gym in North America. Those guys were training at my gym. Randy Couture, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman. I got to be good friends with them and we were talking about what they were making, as I was trying to decide what I was going to do. That option went completely off the table once I heard they were making 2 to 3 or $5,000 a fight. Absolutely ridiculous. Obviously, nowadays, it’s changed exponentially. I would have probably chosen mixed martial arts if the payscale was where it is now.“