Seth Rollins is open to fighting CM Punk in the UFC.
This weekend, Rollins will face CM Punk as part of a triple-threat match headlining Saturday’s WrestleMania 41 card inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Over the last several months, tensions have been boiling over between the two on television, but in reality, the animosity between them goes far beyond what you see on Monday nights.
So much so that Rollins is even willing to strap on a pair of four-ounce gloves and step inside the Octagon with Punk to settle their beef once and for all.
“Sure, yeah, I would [fight him],” Rollins said about Punk on Robert Griffin III’s podcast. “I’m not going to just bust into his locker room backstage and just start lighting him up but if Dana White wanted to book CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins, like first non-UFC fighter [versus] non-UFC fighter fight on one of his cards, I’d put on the gloves and give it a go.
“That might be the only one I do but you put me in there with any of the other guys in my weight class, I’m out. But Dana, you want to make some money, book it, brother” (h/t MMA Fighting).
The chances of that happening are probably pretty slim, but with the UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment both owned by parent company TKO Group, anything is possible.
“Give me a few months [to get ready],” Rollins added. “Give me a training camp but I feel like I could handle myself. TKO, we’re all under one umbrella now so. Could be the first.”
Of course, CM Punk competed under the UFC banner twice, losing bouts to Mickey Gall and Mike Jackson, though the latter was overturned to a no-contest after Jackson tested positive for marijuana.
Seth Rollins explains his hate for CM Punk
Rollins’ disdain for the ‘Second City Saint’ goes back many years. However, the animosity became palpable following Punk’s WWE departure back in 2014. Punk was heavily critical of the WWE’s creative direction, both before and after he exited the company.
Rollins, a consummate company man with a close relationship to WWE CCO Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, took issue with Punk’s criticism, accusing the Chicago native of trying to “tear down” the company they had both benefited from.
“When I use the word cancer it’s very strong but cancer is a parasite,” Rollins said while addressing Punk. “It takes. It don’t give nothing. It only cares about itself. It replicates and it only cares about itself. I feel he’s that way because he infiltrates and he tries to replicate by making it seem like he’s helping out all of these people and getting all these younger guys and girls to be like, ‘Oh yeah, CM Punk is great, CM Punk he helps me out,’ but he’s just trying to replicate. He’s just trying to put his ideas into other people’s minds to basically create a little army underneath him of people that buy into his bull crap.
“At the end of the day, it’s not for the betterment of the industry like he says it is. It’s for the betterment of him. Because he said it himself, he’s not here to make friends, he’s here to make money.”
At the 2023 Survivor Series, Rollins’ team, consisting of Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Randy Orton, Sami Zayn, and Rollins himself, emerged victorious in a brutal War Games match against The Judgment Day and Drew McIntyre. The cheers echoed throughout the arena, celebrating Rollins’ team’s victory, but the atmosphere quickly shifted when the unmistakable sound of Cult of Personality blared through the loudspeakers.
Punk’s return to WWE after nearly a decade was a seismic event, but one that left Rollins feeling slighted. Allegedly, Rollins was not informed that Punk would be returning that night.
Rollins’ wife, Becky Lynch, told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour that Rollins felt disrespected for not being informed.
Following the Survivor Series, a clip quickly made the rounds on social media that showed Rollins flipping off Punk during his shocking return and unleashing a barrage of expletives at ‘The Best in the World.’
The very next night, Rollins let his feelings about Punk’s comeback be known to the WWE Universe
“You guys watch WarGames last night?,” Rollins asked the live crowd. “You already know how I feel about that. I said as much last night. I’m not gonna waste any more breath on somebody who’s been gone for eight years, has done nothing but try to tear this place down.
“Instead, I want to take my time… use my breath on talking about the people who’ve been here all along.”
