wrestling / News

Samoa Joe Explains Why He Never Tried MMA

September 26, 2019 | Posted by Joseph Lee
Samoa Joe Kofi Kingston RAW, Smackdown Live Image Credit: WWE

In an interview with Fightful, Samoa Joe spoke about why he never tried to become an MMA fighter even though his wrestling style is influenced by MMA. Here are highlights:

On if he ever considered MMA: “No, ‘cause I came up in Southern California when it was outlawed, and all my friends were MMA fighters were not making money except for, like, two. So, it just really wasn’t financially feasible at the time. But since then I was just too old to get back into it, ‘cause I don’t lie to myself. I know the elite athletes, I know what they do. You’re just gonna get hurt.”

On seeing others adopt MMA style: “I think that’s kind of par for the course, as things evolve, as a audience becomes more educated to combat forms and styles that maybe guys who were with martial arts knew about for years. You have to expand the game. Obviously they’ve changed perception. I remember when sleeper holds were something, oh, you came keep one on for six minutes. It’s a little bit different now. That’s all from MMA.”

article topics :

Samoa Joe, Joseph Lee