Goldberg considered becoming MMA fighter

WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg once considered pursuing an MMA career before learning there was more money to be made in professional wrestling.

In an interview with TMZ Sports, Goldberg explained how he owned an MMA gym in the late 1990s and had the opportunity to train with UFC legends.

"To train alongside those guys was a dream of mine," Goldberg said. "But when Mark Coleman and Randy Couture and Kevin Randleman and Don Frye were training at my place and were telling me how much money there were making, and I looked at the opportunity of professional wrestling, it didn't take me but a second-and-a-half to figure out what the right choice was."

Goldberg believes he would've fared well as a stand-up fighter but admits he struggled on the ground.

"My stand-up skills would have played well, no question, because a lot of people have no idea as to what I've done in the past, Muay Thai-wise," he said. "But, I'd be lacking in the ground game, there's no doubt. And the problem with a guy like myself is I end up hurting myself more so than getting hurt by the other person. I'll break a hand on someone's face. I'll blow my shoulder out trying to choke somebody. At the end of the day, I'm my own worst enemy.

"So the long-winded answer is, absolutely, I would have loved to have done it if the opportunity was such that it was comparable, if not more advantageous, in the world of professional wrestling. But, at the time, it was a no-brainer for me."

Goldberg, 54, returned to the ring to challenge Drew McIntyre to a WWE Championship match at Sunday's Royal Rumble pay-per-view, which he lost.