Baron Corbin talks to Fightful about his past MMA interests.
Baron Corbin is a former Golden Gloves Boxer, and prior to joining WWE, he had a career in football. When that career came to an end, Corbin had a decision to make regarding his future and revealed in an interview with Sean Ross Sapp that he did consider stepping into the Octagon for UFC prior to getting a tryout with WWE because he had a connection to someone who worked within the company.
Corbin also revealed that he still gets the itch to fight every now and again.
“I know that in the early stages of Ultimate Fighter, I was looking at going and being on the one with Rashad Evans and all those guys, but I had a football scholarship, and I was going to college, so I couldn’t do that,” he said. “When I was done playing football, I was asked at a table, I was sitting there with a guy who was a manager of a rock and roll band. He’s like, ‘What do you want to do if you’re done playing football?’ I was like, ‘Man, I think I am done. My passion is not there for it.’ He’s like, ‘Do you want to do UFC?’ I said, ‘I either want to do UFC or WWE. So I’ve always been a massive WWE fan.’ He’s like, ‘I have a connection with WWE. It’s Neil, the music guy. Let me put a call into him, go see if you’d like it.’ Because that was the thing, it was like, I’m either gonna try to fight in the octagon, or I’m gonna go to WWE, and I had the opportunity for WWE first, and then that’s where they’re at.
“I still get that itch, though. I still am like, man, ‘Should I go try to do like a new NAGA Ju-Jitsu Tournament? Should I try to fight in the Golden Gloves again, or should I try to fight Jake Paul? It’s one of those things,” he added.
WWE and UFC will now merge under one umbrella as Endeavor purchased majority stake in WWE. Learn more about the merger here.
AEW wrestler and former WrestleMania opponent of Baron Corbin, Jon Moxley, recently won a NAGA tournament. Read more here.
