Kurt Angle is a WWE legend, but in another time, he may have been a regular competing in MMA.

As many may know by now, Angle is not only a two-time NCAA Division 1 champion, but also an Olympic gold medal winner in 1996, doing so with a broken neck.

Having achieved his goal, Angle weighed up two options for his future — competing in professional wrestling with he WWE or competing in the UFC at a time where MMA was still not mainstream.

Ultimately, he decided to go with the WWE.

“I got offered three different times,” Kurt Angle told ESPN in a recent interview of his offers from the UFC (via Bloody Elbow). “First time was right after the Olympics in 1996. Dana White wasn’t involved with the UFC back then. They came to me and they gave me their best contract, and it wasn’t a very good contract. It was ten fights for $150,000. That’s $15,000 per fight. And that was the highest they were giving to the fighters for the fights.

“I was like, ‘You know what, that doesn’t sound right. I love fighting, but I don’t love it that much to get my butt kicked for 15 grand.’ So I decided to go to the WWE.”

The rest is history as Angle went on to become one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time in a very short period of time.

However, competing in MMA was still on his mind, especially after departing the WWE in 2006.

“In 2006, when I left the WWE, my manager contacted Dana White,” Angle added. “I was curious whether I could fight. Dana flew me out and put me up in a really nice penthouse suite. He offered me a deal and I considered it, and I ended up turning it down.

“The reason I turned it down in 2006 was because I just signed a contract with TNA, and Dana White would not let me wrestle and fight at the same time. And I didn’t want to go back to TNA and say ‘listen, that contract I just signed is null and void.’ So I didn’t want to do that and I wanted to respect their wishes.”

Angle had one final offer and chance to compete in the UFC a few years later. By that time, however, the Pittsburgh native was 41 and realized he was well past his prime.

“Dana White told me ‘when you’re done with wrestling, come back to me,’ and I did,” he explained. “When I thought I was going to be done with wrestling, I went back to Dana, and Dana came back with an idea to be in (The Ultimate Fighter) with Kimbo Slice.

“I considered it and I said, ‘Well, Dana, you don’t pay those guys to be on TV.’ And he said, ‘I know, but I’ll give you a half-million to be on the show. And then I’ll give you this contract a six-fight deal regardless whether you win it, The Ultimate Fighter, or not. You’ll have a contract when it’s over.’

“I thought about it. At that point in my life I was 41 years old. I broke my neck five times. I sat back and I realized — I started training for it a little bit, and I realized, ‘I’m past my prime, I can’t do this.’ So, I had to turn it down.”