WWE Hall Of Famer claims that he rejected $500k and multiple UFC offers

WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle is one of the few wrestlers from the amateur wrestling background. He is a two-time NCAA Division 1 Champion and an Olympic Gold Medalist. He had a great professional wrestling career in WWE, and TNA. He has now opened up on the opportunities and deals that he declined from UFC years back. In a recent interview with ESPN Kurt Angle spoke about his rejected deals with UFC. He has rejected a total of three deals and explained why he did so by listing it.

After the Olympic Gold

First time when he declined the UFC offer was way back in 1996 after the Olympic Gold. He explained why he declined and why he chose WWE over UFC.

 Kurt said,

"First time was right after the Olympics in 1996,” Angle said. “Dana White wasn’t involved with the UFC back then. They came to me and they gave me their best contract, and it wasn’t a very good contract. It was ten fights for $150,000. That’s $15,000 per fight. And that was the highest they were giving to the fighters for the fights. I was like, You know what, that doesn’t sound right. I love fighting, but I don’t love it that much to get my butt kicked for 15 grand. So I decided to go to the WWE.”

After leaving WWE in 2006

The second time Kurt declined the offer was in 2006, when he left WWE and before joining TNA. 

Kurt said, 

“In 2006, when I left the WWE, my manager contacted Dana White. I was curious whether I could fight, he said. Dana flew me out and put me up in a really nice penthouse suite. He offered me a deal and I considered it, and I ended up turning it down. The reason I turned it down in 2006 was because I just signed a contract with TNA, and Dana White would not let me wrestle and fight at the same time. And I didn’t want to go back to TNA and say listen, that contract I just signed is null and void. So I didn’t want to do that and I wanted to respect their wishes.”

On the $500,000 USD deal

The third deal was a massive money deal after leaving TNA, but still declined the offer considering his age and medical issues.

Kurt said, 

“Dana White told me ‘when you’re done with wrestling, come back to me,’ and I did,” he said. When I thought I was going to be done with wrestling, I went back to Dana, and Dana came back with an idea to be in (The Ultimate Fighter) with Kimbo Slice. I considered it and I said, Well, Dana, you don’t pay those guys to be on TV. And he said, ‘I know, but I’ll give you a half-million to be on the show.

And then I’ll give you this contract a six-fight deal regardless whether you win it, The Ultimate Fighter, or not. You’ll have a contract when it’s over. I thought about it. At that point in my life I was 41 years old, I broke my neck five times. I sat back and I realized, I started training for it a little bit, and I realized, I’m past my prime, I can’t do this. So, I had to turn it down.”

Do you think the NCAA Division 1 Champion, Olympian Gold Medalist, and the former multiple time World Champ would be successful if he were in UFC? Share your thoughts on the comments.