Actor/MMA Fighter Jason David Frank was a recent guest on the ‘Primo Nutmeg’ podcast which you can listen to the entire interview at this link. Below are a few highlights from the interview:
On Wanting to Fight CM Punk:
Fans would love it. If Punk fights again, everyone in the UFC wants me to fight him, so if he fights again, that is definitely something I would like to do.
On Possibly Getting Involved with WWE:
I got a chance to visit some of the WWE guys and looking backstage it’s much like the UFC. I’m not talking about the fighting but the energy that they put into the show. One way or another, I would like to get involved with WWE or UFC, to please the fans. To me, I’ve been fighting my whole entire life, I can do it tomorrow if they’d like, I love it, it just has to make sense why we’re doing it, what I mean is that it doesn’t have to make financial sense; I’d fight CM Punk for a dollar, I would do a Power Ranger movie for nothing, I’m not financially hurt, what I’m saying is that it would have to make sense for my fan base, so it goes back to what they’re thinking; if it’s something that they want then it’d be something I would do, it’s not about money at all, and that is what I mean about making sense. For CM Punk, it would make sense on a financial level, but I am super different than most of these people out there and that’s the truth. I don’t care about the money, and I have said that since day one, I’d fight him for a dollar just to make the contract equal, that is what instilled so much confidence in me and what scared him to fight me because he’s wondering why would this guy want to fight me for a dollar to get his butt kicked? That is what happened, to be honest.
On Why He Wants to Fight CM Punk:
Not at all. I thought the fan base was great. I never thought he’d sign with UFC. I got a deal a long time ago with me and him on an NBC show. I picked him because I like the guy, he’s got a huge fan base and he wants to fight. I don’t want to pick a fight with someone to convince them to fight, he actually wants to fight, so I said, hey that’s perfect, he’s 38, I’m 43, who cares. He’s sitting there and calling me an old man, well hey, you’re getting there too buddy, so I never thought he’d be in the UFC because UFC strives for perfection. Out of 600 UFC Fighters, CM Punk is listed at 170 top paid UFC Fighter with one fight, and you have 500-600 people who are struggling and are really good fighters who can use the money or earn the money, so I was just thinking fan base loves it, all these things started coming out and I talked to him about it, and he said that he’s a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu, and then all these things started coming out and I didn’t know if he was just saying that to impress me at the time, or he actually never thought this could actually ever happen to us, but it’s very possible. I like the guy, I like CM Punk, but I thought I would like to show the world who is the Best in the World, and that is why we should fight. I know it’s a slogan that WWE owns, but I’m just a fan.
On Why CM Punk Received So Much Backlash in UFC:
In the UFC I think everyone strives to be at this level and to get there with no fights, no fight experience to make all of that money, that is why Punk got so much hatred from people in UFC, but if he pulled a great fight off, it would have been one thing, but it was all hype, and I helped with that hype. I was calling Fox Sports, Joe Silva the matchmaker, even Dana White said it could possibly happen, so I pushed really hard thinking I was going to get it and I didn’t so people were upset, but it was a fun thing to bring those universes together.
