Seth “Freakin'” Rollins appreciates how hard the pro wrestling business is.
So much so that he doesn’t even think UFC-caliber athletes can hang inside the squared circle.
The WWE World Heavyweight Champion recently spoke with Marc Raimondi of ESPN for an interview, during which he was asked if he thinks anyone in the UFC could make the transition to WWE.
“No,” he said. “They don’t have the stamina for it. They don’t fight every single weekend. This championship goes everywhere. It goes everywhere. It goes to like Biloxi. Especially the top stars over there, they are catered to a certain way. That’s great, that’s their style, that’s what works for them, I understand that, you fight maybe once or twice a year. You’re crazy, you fight three times a year.”
He continued, “To fight over 100 times a year, make all those towns, still be able to train, still be able to do all the media, it’s an exhausting industry. I don’t want to knock Ronda Rousey because I love Ronda and she did a lot for our industry, women in our industry, and the fight industry in general, but it was tough for Ronda. She tried her damndest and it was hard for her. I’d love for somebody to come over and take a crack if you think you can hang, but it’s hard.”
Additionally, “The Visionary” and “The Revolutionary” of WWE was asked if there is anyone he would want to call out in the UFC, which led to him stating that while he would likely lose, he still thinks he could fare better than CM Punk did inside the Octagon.
“I’ll call them all out,” he said. “I don’t care. Try it out. I can’t do what they do. I’d go in there and get knocked out and choked out in two seconds. I’d probably do better than Punk [CM Punk], but I would still lose, most likely. They can’t come and do what we do either. They are the same umbrella, but two totally different worlds.”
Check out the complete Seth “Freakin'” Rollins interview with Marc Raimondi of ESPN via the X post embedded below. H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.