UFC president Dana White was heavily critical of Mike Jackson’s performance at UFC 225. The outspoken company executive put “The Truth” on blast right after the event for “goofing around” and not trying to finish the fight.
White, however, has been all praises for opposing fighter CM Punk. In a recent guesting on the MMA Roasted podcast, he defended the former WWE superstar from all detractors, the most notable one being UFC analyst Joe Rogan.
“A lot of people talk sh-t about CM, well, get in there. Come on over,” White said (transcript via MMANYTT). “Have a fight and fight one of these guys.”
“It’s easy to sit in your living room and talk sh-t. This guy was a huge star in WWE and he came over here and put it all on the line twice, man, in front of the whole world.
“If people can’t respect that, then they’re a f—king idiot.”
According to White, critics do not have the right to throw shade at someone like Punk and his dedication for the sport.
“You can’t tell somebody ‘don’t do the thing that you want to do the most,’” White said. “CM Punk wanted to be a UFC fighter and he wanted to come here. He wanted it so bad that he dropped everything and focused on nothing but mixed martial arts.”
“If you talk to his team, next time you talk to Duke Roufus or Anthony Pettis, or any of those guys and talk about how this guy was driving back and forth from Chicago (to Milwaukee), how he would drive for hours and then train forever, you know. They all ended up respecting him.”
But when asked if he was willing to give Punk a third shot in the UFC, White immediately shut it down.
“No. I don’t think he really wants a third chance.”
The 39-year-old Punk lost via unanimous decision at UFC 225, as he now drops to a professional record of 0-2.
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