Kurt Angle Reveals Why Multi-Million Dollar UFC Deals Fell Through

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle has accomplished a lot during his time in professional wrestling and his background as an amateur wrestler certainly helped him stand out among the rest. However, Angle has now revealed why he never got to compete in the UFC despite being offered multi-million dollar deals.

While speaking to Story Time With Dutch Mantell, Kurt Angle revealed why he never signed multi-million dollar deals with the UFC. Back in 2006, after joining TNA Wrestling, he was interested in doing one fight with the UFC. Dana White invited him to Las Vegas and offered him a deal: one fight, then a seven-year agreement to attend UFC events and make appearances, earning $8 million.

Angle wanted to do both wrestling and MMA and he planned to take time off from TNA to train for the fight and then return, but Dana White insisted he could only pick one. Since Angle had just signed with TNA, he couldn’t back out of his contract, so he turned down the UFC offer.

“UFC, on the other hand, um, I will tell you this: Dana White has always been good to me. The guy’s been incredible. I went to him after 2006—I had just signed with TNA—and I was interested in doing one fight with Dana. So, he invited me to Vegas, and when I went up to his hotel room—it was a penthouse suite, beautiful—he told me he wanted me to fight one fight. He said, ‘And then for the next seven years, I want you to sit in the crowd and wave to the fans at every pay-per-view. That’s all you have to do.’

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I asked, ‘Well, how much are you going to give me?’ He said, ‘Eight million.’ I told him, ‘But I just want to let you know, I just signed a deal with TNA. So, I have to continue my wrestling career, but I could take time off from TNA, train for the fight, do it, and then appear at every pay-per-view after that.’ Dana said, ‘No, you can only do one or the other.’

I had just signed with TNA, so there was no way I was going back to them to say, ‘Listen, I’ve changed my mind; I’m going with UFC.’ They would have thought I was nuts. So, I let it go. Dana was really cool about it. We let it slide.”

Later on, when issues came up in TNA involving Jeff and Karen Jarrett, Angle thought about leaving wrestling and joining the UFC full-time. He reached out to Dana White, who agreed but told him he needed to pass a physical first. Unfortunately, Angle failed the physical, and his chance to fight in the UFC was over.

Dana White’s offer included a six-fight contract with big payouts. Angle would earn $500,000 for the first fight, plus another $500,000 if he won. The pay would go up with each fight, reaching $1 million per fight by the end of the deal. Angle estimated he could have earned $7–8 million from the contract.

“I had just signed with TNA, so there was no way I was going back to them to say, ‘Listen, I’ve changed my mind; I’m going with UFC.’ They would have thought I was nuts. So, I let it go. Dana was really cool about it. We let it slide.

Later, when I decided I wanted to leave TNA—this was when there was an issue with Jeff Jarrett and Karen Jarrett, and everything went down between the three of us—I told Dixie [Carter] I wanted to leave. I called UFC and asked Dana if I could quit wrestling and start fighting for him. He said, ‘Well, I need you to take a physical.’ So, I went and took the physical, and I failed it.

There was no way I was going to be able to do it. The thing is, Dana was going to offer me a six-fight deal. I’d get $500,000 for the first fight, and if I won, I’d get another $500,000. Then $600,000 for the second fight, and if I won, another $600,000, and so on. The deal would’ve gone up to a million for the later fights. So, for six fights, I would have made about seven or eight million dollars.”

While he missed out on the deal, Angle pointed out that UFC fighters today make even more money, with some earning $18 million per fight. For him, it all came down to bad timing and the physical toll his body had already taken.

“Don’t get me wrong, I know the money is a lot bigger now—some of these guys are getting $18 million per pay-per-view fight—but back then, that was pretty much the best guarantee you could get. Unfortunately, I failed the physical, and there was just no way possible.”

Kurt Angle also revealed that he never received a dime for the “ANGLE” documentary on Peacock. Regardless, Kurt Angle competing in the UFC will always remain one of the biggest “What Ifs” but at the end of the day, Angle made peace with never competing in the UFC and that’s all that matters to him in the end.

What do you think about Kurt Angle’s decision to stick with wrestling instead of pursuing a UFC career? Could he have been a major MMA star, or was he better off staying in the wrestling ring? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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