With CM Punk’s MMA debut officially in the books following UFC 203 this past weekend, the Goldbergian question raises itself once more: Who’s next? Punk’s not the first pro wrestler to enter the octagon, with everyone from Brock Lesnar to Batista to Bobby Lashley to even CWC competitor Jack Gallagher having tried their hand in MMA with varying degrees of success.
One Superstar who won’t be making the transition any time soon, however, is Randy Orton. When questioned by a fan on Twitter if the third-generation superstar would ever consider UFC, he responded in a way only he could:
@RandyOrton would you ever try ufc?
— Con (@ConnorB2017) September 13, 2016
I like making $. Over and over. Not once every 6 months….plus I'd prob fake punch the guy and get choked out. #lol https://t.co/xLXt01bzyf
— Randy Orton (@RandyOrton) September 13, 2016
Orton’s point is somewhat valid — UFC fighters’ primary source of income is through fights, and while the paydays can be large, they can also be pretty spaced out — but maybe he didn’t see what Punk made for his first-round tapout loss over the weekend. Five-hundred-thousand goddamn dollars.
Listen, Randall. Maybe you’re not aware of it, but were you to transition into UFC, your path would not be very dissimilar from Mr. Brooks here. You’re what promoters refer to as a “draw,” and win or lose, you would be paid as such. So yeah, $500,000 might pale in comparison to your WWE earnings (reported at $2.7 million by Forbes earlier this year), but it’s also a lot less back bumps and rambling promos about snakes. However, the elbows-to-forehead thing would probably still happen, and at a higher frequency, so maybe it’s a wash.
