UFC PRESIDENT DANA WHITE DISCUSSES FORMER WWE CHAMP BROCK LESNAR & TNA STAR KURT ANGLE

by Mike Johnson @ 6:56:00 PM on 3/9/2007

Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White did an interview with CBS Sportsline that was posted earlier today. Of the most interest to professional wrestling fans were comments made regarding former WWE champions Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. UFC's Interest in Lesnar: "Very interested in Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar is out there, I believe right now he had signed a deal with K-1, and he's out there training hard from what I hear, and he's taking this serious. And that's what you need to do. Brock Lesnar seems like a serious guy to me." White went on to say there have been no contract talks between the two.

Kurt Angle in UFC: "I like Kurt. I've talked to Kurt a bunch of times. I'm just not sure how committed he is to fighting. I made him an offer before, and he went over and did TNA wrestling. I don't know. If the guy is seriously interested in fighting, then he should be fighting with the UFC."

What It Would Take for UFC to Sign Angle: "The guy, seriously, is a legend in Olympic wrestling, and is a legend in professional wrestling. I'm not going to bring anybody in here for some type of freak show to get hurt. If the guy wants to be serious and wants to come over and train -- and I can hook him up with all the right people to train with, the right training places, and everything else. If he wants to be serious, I'm interested, but I'm not going to bring him over here to get hurt."

Angle Competing in MMA and pro wrestling simultaneously: "I'd prefer he did one or the other. I mean, how the hell are you going to professional wrestle and professional fight? It doesn't work that way. It takes a lot of time and training to dedicate to fighting." Angle saying he'd need six month of training: "At his age and having never had a pro fight, that would be a very good idea. This thing isn't a joke. You don't just decide "I'm a professional wrestler I think I'm going to fight." It takes a lot of time, dedication and hard work -- just like wrestling does. I'm sure these guys have to train hard and have to get in great shape to professional wrestle. You can't just jump up one day and say, "I'm going to be a pro fighter and I think I'll fight next month." It doesn't work that way. It doesn't even come close to working that way.

White discusses a number of other topics in regards to MMA including the announcement that UFC 70, scheduled to be held in Great Britain, will be broadcast for free on SpikeTV. You can read the entire interview at http://www.sportsline.com/boxing/story/10050453.