Aleister Black’s wrestling style is influenced by kickboxing, and he revealed having discussions with Glory Kickboxing in the past.
During a recent appearance on the “Wrestling the Rap Game” podcast, Black stated that he had considered, but ultimately did not pursue, a career in MMA, although those discussions led to some talk about Bellator. He said,
“No, God no. There was talk, back in the day, I have to be completely honest that I don’t know if it was during or right before I went to WWE. It was Glory and I think, at some point, the conversation turned to Bellator. I was like, ‘Guys, I am not a trained MMA guy. I do kickboxing and muay-thai.’ Back then it was kickboxing, I transitioned to muay thai later.”
He continued, “I don’t know how to grapple. I know some shoot holds and some wrestling because of what I do in the ring, I know some holds, but if you put me with anyone with the slightest capability of grappling, I’d be done. Put up a good fight, though. That was a little bit of a rumbling, I just didn’t want to do it. In the event that I would have picked Glory, I feel I would have been disrespecting the sport. I would take up a spot of someone who has dedicated their entire life to being (a fighter). Glory is a massive stage. I would take a spot and I would feel so bad and I wouldn’t want to disrespect my coaches and trainers. I will always train martial arts, but competing is something I let the pros do.”
Black made his WWE return on the latest edition of Friday Night SmackDown.
