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CM Punk: Conor McGregor hurt a lot of feelings at WWE with his comments
Ultimate Fighting Championship

CM Punk: Conor McGregor hurt a lot of feelings at WWE with his comments

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:14 p.m. ET

CM Punk may be a novice when it comes to mixed martial arts, but he knows the professional wrestling industry better than anybody competing in the UFC today.

That's why Punk was so surprised to hear a ton of WWE superstars up in arms after Conor McGregor took aim at them in a series of comments ahead of his last fight against Nate Diaz at UFC 202.

McGregor said he would 'slap the head off' the entire roster before blasting several superstars like John Cena, who he called "a big fat 40-year-old failed Mr. Olympian (expletive)" in August.

Punk already stated previously that his former co-workers at WWE were just taking the bait when McGregor started taking shots at them, but he also wonders if there weren't orders from above for some of the bigger names in the industry to respond.

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"It’s a hard thing to comment on, you know, because the amount of people who responded to him made me feel like they were told to respond to him," Punk said on the UFC 203 pre-fight conference call.

"You know, he’s the biggest name in sports at the moment, you know."

Whether the WWE stars responding to McGregor was company mandated or not, Punk knows that more than a few of the athletes on the roster were hurt by what the UFC featherweight champion had to say about them.

"There’s always grey areas when you involve that whole scene and you’re wondering is this a work, is it not a work. A lot of feelings were hurt though, I can tell you that much," Punk said.

"I thought it was a little strange. You got to leave the emotion out of it. These guys still don’t know."

Whether the WWE stars were upset because they admire McGregor or perhaps one day hoped he would make a crossover appearance like Ronda Rousey did once upon a time is unknown.

Either way, McGregor's words seemed to rattle a few cages and Punk couldn't help but shake his head he watched the whole thing unfold from the outside looking in.

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