WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently discussed a potential UFC fight that he was offered directly by Dana White himself.
The idea was to get Angle in the ring with Daniel Puder, a former WWE Superstar himself and someone that Angle has a history with.
Puder won a series of WWE Tough Enough, but he is more remembered for an incident on WWE SmackDown where he nearly broke the Olympic gold medallist's arm.
Back in 2004, there was an episode of SmackDown which saw Angle take on some of the contestants of Tough Enough in somewhat of a 'shoot' style contest.
Angle was dominant over one competitor before Puder then got in the ring and nearly broke Angle's arm with a Kimura lock. With that happening, Dana White believed that it would make an intriguing fight to host on an Ultimate Fighting Championship PPV event.
“He wasn’t very specific on saying we’re going to protect you, but the opponent that he gave me at the beginning was a good opponent. Very intriguing from a public interest standpoint, especially from a pro wrestling fan standpoint. Very intriguing because he didn’t have a lot of experience in MMA, he only fought a couple of times, but I had a little episode with him in the WWE. That was Daniel Puder, and when Dana said that to me I said, ‘Are you serious? Daniel Puder, that’s all?’ Not that I thought Daniel Puder was easy because he actually had my arm trapped and he would have broken my arm when we did our little episode on SmackDown. I just knew that I could beat Daniel Puder.
Despite the fight not taking place, Angle still believes that he could've beaten the Tough Enough winner back in 2006 when he was offered the opportunity inside the octagon.
“[I would've won] Especially if I rested and let my neck heal. When I worked with Daniel Puder in WWE, I just got back from my neck surgery and my arms were so weak, I couldn’t do five pushups, really vulnerable. Not sure why the WWE had me get in the ring with Daniel Puder knowing my condition, but they did. I ended up getting caught in a situation that could’ve turned ugly, but fortunately, Daniel pinned himself and he was on his back just like a Jiu Jitsu guy would be. I was excited about the first fight, Daniel Puder, a formidable opponent for me at that particular time, not too overbearing. It was a good starting fight for me. I knew Dana was caring about my career in MMA because he was giving me an opponent that I could possibly beat.”
credit to WrestlingINC for the transcription
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