The following are highlights of a new FOXSports.com Q&A with CM Punk:
On being the most coachable fighter at Roufusport: “‘I’ve been here for two months now. “Come in the door,” I said to all the coaches, I said, “Whatever little I do know, forget it, and that I’m just a moldable piece of clay.” I think Duke (Roufus) really liked that because I don’t have all the . . . say I’ve been fighting for four years and I was trained by somebody different, Duke would have to almost kind of reverse-engineer everything, get rid of some bad habits. And different camps teach guys striking in a different way. So I’m learning under Duke Roufus, so he wants me doing everything a certain way. So I don’t have any habits and I don’t have the attitude of, “Oh, well, no, I learned it this way,” you know what I mean? I’m the most coachable guy here. I do what my coaches say. So it’s not really up to me anymore, 100 percent. I’m leaving it up to Duke (and the other coaches and trainers). The original idea was to come in here, train my ass off for six months and then sit down with all of them, have a little powwow and see where we’re at.”
On how often he trains: “I definitely look at it as a full-time job. I’m here every day of the week. I take weekends off. But I’m here and I train with the pro team every day for two hours. Then some days I do two-a-days, so I’ll come back. I live in Chicago, so I’m driving back and forth. Or some days I’m staying up here. So on those days, normally two days a week I come back and do extra, or even when I’m at home I’ll do strength and conditioning, run. I’m very much all-in on this.”
On the worst part about his time in WWE: “The worst part of it? After a while, I would say the worst part of it was their not listening and not understanding, and not getting a break when I probably needed one. Because who’s to say where I’d be right now? They’re always looking for the next guy, so nobody is really bigger than the company. Not that I ever thought I was, but I thought I was a pretty healthy cog in the machine. I thought I could’ve been afforded a vacation here or there.”
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