Goldberg Says He Would’ve Chosen MMA Career If It Had Today’s Pay Scale

Goldberg is known as one of the most dominating and intimidating figures in pro wrestling history. The pro-wrestler’s name is right up there with the rest of the wrestling greats. Goldberg burst into the wrestling scene with his epic reign in Ted Turner’s promotion, World Championship Wrestling. However, it appears he could have had an entirely different career path if the pay had been better.

Goldberg recently revealed on the Nothing Left Unsaid podcast with Tim Green that he would have pursued a career in mixed martial arts (MMA) if circumstances had been different. He expressed his interest in MMA and said that he owned a gym, Obaki Fight School, in Atlanta where prominent MMA fighters like Randy Couture, Kevin Randleman, and Mark Coleman trained.

However, he was deterred by the low pay scale in MMA during the mid-1990s, with fighters reportedly earning only a fraction of what they make today. Although, Goldberg did acknowledged the significant evolution MMA has made since then, particularly in terms of financial compensation, which has made the sport far more lucrative for athletes.

“100000% percent. No question,” Goldberg said. “Back in the day, the guys who were fighting at UFC were training at my gym. I owned a gym after Main Event Fitness called Obaki Fight School in Atlanta. It was the largest MMA gym in North America. Those guys were training at my gym. Randy Couture, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman. I got to be good friends with them and we were talking about what they were making, as I was trying to decide what I was going to do. That option went completely off the table once I heard they were making 2 to 3 or $5,000 a fight. Absolutely ridiculous. Obviously, nowadays, it’s changed exponentially. I would have probably chosen mixed martial arts if the payscale was where it is now.”

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Despite not pursuing MMA professionally, Goldberg incorporated elements of the sport into his wrestling character and moveset, pulling in audiences during the Monday Night War between WCW and WWE. Meanwhile, Goldberg currently remains free agent after his last WWE contract expired, it is yet to be seen if the former World champion will return to the ring, either to WWE or any other promotion in the future. Stay tuned to Ringside News for more!

Do you think he would have excelled in the octagon if circumstances had been different? Let us know in the comments!