Top WWE star Brock Lesnar appeared on Barstool Sports’ Spittin’ Chiclets podcast to discuss various topics, including his transition to MMA after leaving WWE in 2004..
Lesnar said, “So I went to wrestle New Japan Pro Wrestling, was that at the time. And I went over there and you guys remember K-1? Fighting, really—the kickboxing and K-1 in the nineties was real big. And so they discovered me when I was in Japan and they presented a fight to me. And that was actually my first fight ever with that company. It was called K-1 Dynamite. And I fought at the L.A. Coliseum. That was my first fight gig.”
On joining the UFC:
“I knew that if I was going to stay on the pain train, I just wanted something else. I wanted to see what else was out there and I didn’t—I had no idea that I was going to blow up and become the UFC champion. That was a goal. But for me to have my third fight against Randy Couture, of all the guys—it’s—I could’ve shelled up and been scared about it, but that’s how confident I was though. That’s what I mean. You’ve got to have this, you’ve got to have an alter ego. You’ve got to have something inside that makes you believe in order to achieve. It was perfect for me. It was perfect. And then I discovered real early that if I play a heel in the UFC, I don’t have to do all the media…I could just tell people whatever, so whatever. People see the entertainment Brock Lesnar and they think that’s who I am, but it’s not who I am. And I don’t let people into my circle enough to know. It’s been a mystique for a long time. But I can still be an asshole when I want to be.”
You can check out the complete podcast below.
(H/T to PWInsider.com for transcribing the above quotes)
