Kurt Angle vs. Kimbo Slice in the Octagon? It almost happened…

At least, according to Kurt Angle...

There have been several professional wrestlers who have decided over the years to make the jump to mixed martial arts, most notably Brock Lesnar. And while Kurt Angle has had reported flirtations with UFC in the past, he tells Mark Madden at WXDX-FM in Pittsburgh that the latest twist involved Kimbo Slice:

"Last year I almost quit wrestling and I took the UFC physical. Dana White flew me out to take the physical and I passed it with flying colors and Dana White was very happy.

He wanted me to be on "Real Fighter" with Kimbo Slice. And I'm not going to tell you the amount but he was going to pay me a significant amount to be on the show. Which he doesn't pay his fighters to be on the show because you have to fight for a contract. But he wanted to give me a 2 year deal, 6 fight deal and he told me that I had to quit wrestling. I had to retire and I couldn't go back.

And when I thought about it back and forth, I thought I don't know if I can quit wrestling right now. Plus, if I did I'd want to give TNA at least a 6 month window to let them know I was going to leave. So I couldn't do that to TNA. I apologized to Dana White and I apologized a million times and him and I are on great terms. If I decide to go UFC, MMA, he would definitely be interested but right now I just have my sights on making TNA bigger and better."

I'm guessing Angle meant the TV show "Ultimate Fighter" instead of "Real Fighter" but no matter. Slice's most recent defeat coupled with Angle's loyalty (not to mention Father Time) likely mean that this matchup goes down as one for the ages had MMA found its foothold in society about a decade earlier.