CM Punk didn’t train during UFC 225 open workouts due to ‘severe anxiety’

CM Punk appeared at the UFC 225 open workouts as scheduled, but the former pro-wrestler chose to just speak to the fans and media instead of actually hosting a public training session. Initially, he said this was to acclimate his body and train at the same time he will be fighting, but now the former WWE star admits that the decision was also due to anxiety.

“It’s a scheduling thing and it’s an anxiety thing,” CM Punk said during a media scrum as to why he didn’t workout for the public. “I got severe anxiety. Unfortunately it is (something I deal with in day-to-day life).”

Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, says that he normally gets anxious when surrounded by a lot of people, but explains that it also happens specifically when others watch him train.

“I’m comfortable in the gym, obviously. I don’t like people — if I was training and somebody walks in and started watching, I wouldn’t know and I would be fine. It’s whatever,” he explained. “As weird as it sounds, I’ll be fine fighting, but it’s just the training. I don’t know. I’m like a weirdo.

“I don’t know. It just is different. I know (I was) wrestling in front of a hundred thousand people in my underwear, but it’s just different. I have anxiety. It’s a thing,” he said.

“I barely go to punk shows anymore, because being in a crowd of people, it just makes me — ehh. This is starting to freak me out, now that I’m talking about it,” Punk said about the assembled media surrounding him. “Duke (Roufus) wasn’t here too. It’s more or less, I definitely want to get (a workout) in with my team in a little bit, right at 9 (pm) when I’m scheduled to fight.”

Fighters deal with a lot of nerves before a fight. Some, like Georges St-Pierre, deal with a more severe level of anxiety than others but manage to center themselves and still perform to their ability during competition.

The thing is, most of those athletes have years of experience in competition that can help them overcome all that. CM Punk doesn’t have that luxury.

It’s certainly not easy to deal with all that as an amateur starting in small shows, but Punk is doing this as a professional in the UFC. I can only imagine how all that must feel like, especially if you add the fact that he will be in front of a boisterous hometown crowd, while trying to rebound and not get embarrassed again.

For all the talk about how the WWE star is used to the bright lights and can perform under pressure, fighting is a certainly whole different beast. Anxiety is no joke, so can he overcome all of that and perform to his ability? If he does, will those skills even be enough?