Fighting back tears most of the time, CM Punk faced the press after UFC 203 with a banged up face and a cauliflower ear and responded questions regarding the fight and his future.
“The process was magical, I’m just disappointed. I’m beating myself up more than I was beat up, I am supremely disappointed. Just being out there was the most fun I’ve ever had,” Punk said, although he then immediately corrected saying it was the “second best” since his best fun was marrying his wife and former WWE Divas champion AJ Lee.
When asked if he intends to stay in the UFC level or maybe go lower to brush up his skills, Punk said that his initial venture into this sport was at the lowest level but then the opportunity to enter the UFC was presented and he would have been a fool if he said no.
“I don’t know what happens from here on out, what if i get cut? It’s possibility,” Punk said. He added that for him it feels like he fell off a bike and now he gotta get back on the ride regardless if it’s in the UFC or not.
He said that it’s time go back to the drawing board and take some time off, which was always the plan win or lose. He said his wife put up a lot with him and it’s about time he dedicate some time with her.
Punk said the plan was always to “move forward” in the fight but he got caught and was late in throwing the punch. “There are no excuses for what happened, Mickey was the better man.”
Asked about the theme he came out to, Punk said that Cult of Personality is “an awesome, awesome song” which is why he went with it. He said that before he entered the Octagon he looked around the arena soaking it all in because he didn’t know if it was going to happen again.
Punk then broke down when explaining what happened. “I’m just hard on myself. I lost and it sucks and it was lopsided and it’s upsetting, but I know I’m better than that,” he said as tears went down.
He was then asked what his wife said when he came backstage following the fight. “You guys are gonna make me cry, you bastards!” Punk took a minute before replying, closing his eyes as the emotion took the best of him again.
“She just said she was proud of me, you know?”
Before closing the 11-minute post-fight press conference, Punk addressed his doubters. “They said I wasn’t gonna make it to the Octagon and they said I wasn’t gonna make it after the back surgery. Then that was I wasn’t gonna make weight. I was happy I did it.”
