s able to lead a normal life now, while Brooks follows his dream of being a UFC fighter, is one of the biggest reasons Brooks has no regrets about his decision, regardless of what his record in the Octagon ends up being.

Gordon Greenidge cried the most. Everybody was crying, he couldnt hold himself back.Bangladesh and Netherlands might have played each other only once in international cricket - in Glasgow at that - but they share a bittersweet history; a history of tears of anguish and tears of joy for Bangladesh. Back in 1994, and then in 1997, the two countries were involved in two matches, which though not recognised as internationals, were key to the future of cricket in Bangladesh. Those were in the days of the ICC Trophy, where the Associates take part in tense contests - a tension followers of Test-playing nations can never truly appreciate, and that includes me - just to make it to the World Cup. Just to let the world know they exist.Akram Khan, arguably the greatest entertainer to play for Bangladesh, was involved in both those seminal matches against Netherlands. He is a national selector now, and often comes to watch the Bangladesh nets. On his way to the ground on Sunday, on the eve of a crucial match against Netherlands, all he could think of was those two emotion-filled games - emotion that perhaps surpasses what we have seen in Bangladesh this World Cup.In Nairobi in 1994, Bangladesh had restricted Netherlands to 205. Understandably, the coach, Mohinder Amarnath, then told them not to take any risks while chasing and just to knock the runs down. Bangladesh took the advice too seriously, as Akram remembers, and it turned out to be choddo over, baro run [fourteen overs, 12 runs]. It sounds funny now, but it was a huge setback. Bangladesh ended up losing by 47 runs.Zimbabwe had been granted Test status, thus opening up another slot among the Associates for the first large World Cup, to be played in 1996. Three teams were to qualify from the ICC Trophy, and Bangladesh were the favourites. Thanks to that defeat, though, Netherlands usurped Bangladesh.Akram and Bangladesh were inconsolable then. Bahut takleef hua tha [It hurt us a lot], he says, that we didnt qualify for the 1996 World Cup. We had got all sorts of help from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They all helped us with the infrastructure and facilities. They used to send A teams. We thought we had let them down, our country down, everybody down.Three years later Bangladesh went into another ICC Trophy, this time in Kuala Lumpur, as the favourites. They had a strong side, so strong they played the same XI throughout the tournament. The matches were covered live on radio, and the whole nation was hooked. They went unbeaten through the tournament, but rain was cruel to them. When they had bowled Ireland out for 129 in a league game, they had to settle for shared points because of rain. That left them in a must-win situation in their last league game against Netherlands at the Rubber Research Institute in Kuala Lumpur.Bangladesh bowled Netherlands out for 171, and they were just one solid chase short of going through to the semi-finals. However, after having gone unbeaten for seven games, they found themselves at 15 for 4. The dream was crashing. This would be too big a heartbreak. The rain arrived again, this time as the saviour. Or so it seemed at that point.Akram and Minhajul Abedin then put together a partnership. Abedin, a wristy batsman, also came from Chittagong, like Akram. The two street-smart cricketers not only got runs, they indulged in some time wasting too: asking for a helmet during an over, fiddling with other equipment, doing whatever they could to delay things. Arguments ensued. Akram now smiles and says, I did some bad things. Not good.We thought if we got away with one point from that game, we would qualify for the semi-final, Akram says. But when we came back, the match referee told us we had to win the game. We were stunned.This is where emotion makes the story hazy. All the journalists, the team themselves, and the fans present there, agree with this version: that when Bangladesh came off they thought a draw would be enough, but learned to their horror that nothing less than a win would do.That does not sound entirely accurate because Bangladesh went into that game with three points and Netherlands with one. Ireland had already qualified with five points. So a no-result would have taken Bangladesh to four and Netherlands would have been stuck at two. A defeat for Bangladesh, though, would have tied Netherlands at three points, in which case Netherlands would have advanced based on the head-to-head.There are two plausible explanations for the delaying tactics Bangladesh employed and the celebrations that greeted the rain. Bangladesh may have realised that with the partnership between Akram and Abedin, they were ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis par score, and by slowing the game down they were just ensuring that lead. However, just before they came off, Abedin was run out, which could have pushed them just behind on the reckoning, which would have meant they would lose if no further play was possible.Also D/L was a new beast back then, and perhaps Bangladesh didnt realise they had already played the minimum number of overs required to constitute a game and were now going to lose.Then again, perhaps the version accepted in Bangladesh is correct, and this conjecture is merely conjecture. Its all trivial, though. What is important is that the whole of Bangladesh, glued to the radio, was praying for rain, and once it stopped play, they celebrated. Then came the news that this wasnt good enough for them to qualify. The news was relayed on radio. Everybody who prayed for rain was now praying for the resumption of the game. We worried about our futures, Akram says. All negative thoughts came to our mind. The failure in 1994. And now we thought we might never be able to play international cricket.Woh jumme ka din tha [It was a Friday]. A lot of Bengalis come to work in Malaysia. They all turned up at the ground. Everybody started praying. Luckily the rain stopped and the play resumed and we had a revised target.Akram then produced an innings on which Bangladesh cricket stands today, as anybody in the country will tell you. Those who were present there say it was a chanceless innings, with no sense of panic or hurry. I believed if I stayed there till the end, we would win this, Akram says. Nannu [Abedin] was a vital player. He had performed well in domestic cricket, and I got a partnership with him and then one with Saiful Islam. In the end I stayed not out.That kicked off wild celebrations. Athar Ali Khan, who opened the batting in that game, says it was the same as what we have seen on the streets of Dhaka and Chittagong this year after the national teams wins over England and Ireland. My body was draped in the Bangladesh national flag, and we didnt leave the ground for a long, long time.Akram says everybody cried that day. The journalists, and their friends, say they cried too. Gordon [Greenidge, their coach] cried the most. Everybody was crying, he couldnt hold himself back.Gordon Greenidge crying. Just imagine a win that makes Greenidge cry; a man who had come from a different country, a different culture. The owner of one of the fiercest square-cuts ever seen, the man with the double-century on one leg, the man whose image first comes to mind when the words beware the wounded batsman are said; Greenidge cried after that win. Thats how much it meant to the team.I ask Akram if he agrees with what everyone tells me. Was this the single most important innings in the history of Bangladesh cricket? He pauses. Says yes. Then laughs. Says yes again. It cannot be denied. For because of that innings, Bangladesh played the semi-final, then the final, then the World Cup, where they beat Pakistan and got Test status. If they had lost on that jumme ka din, there would have been no World Cup, and who knows how long they would have had to wait to qualify for a World Cup.We all talk about the pressure of expectation on the current team, but at least they know they will be playing international cricket even if they lose. They knew they would be playing international cricket even when they went 47 games without a win. The class of 1997, though, even after having gone unbeaten in that tournament until then, didnt know if they would ever get to play if they lost that day. It wasnt quite a Messerschmitt up the arse, but surely Keith Miller wouldnt have scoffed if Akram told him he was under pressure that day. 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CLEVELAND -- CM Punk lost Saturday night at UFC 203, but Phil Brooks walked out of the Quicken Loans Arena as the real winner.Brooks MMA debut, which came nearly two years after he announced he had signed with the UFC on Dec. 6, 2014, ended with a rear-naked chokehold at 2:14 of the first round at the hands of 24-year-old Mickey Gall, who is now 3-0 in his young MMA career.The result, however, was nothing more than a footnote to what should be viewed as an inspirational example for anyone unhappy with where they are in life and unsure if its too late to rewrite their story.Brooks, who has fought under the name CM Punk since he broke into professional wrestling in the 1990s, will turn 38 next month. No one gave him much of a chance to win his first MMA fight, which didnt take place in some nondescript gymnasium as many debuts do, but in front of a sellout crowd of around 20,000 fans on a UFC pay-per-view he co-headlined.The mere fact Brooks was able to step into the Octagon was enough to call his two-year journey to this point a success. He admitted as much after arriving in Cleveland earlier this week for the fight.There are a lot of victories here, Brooks said. Just doing this, I won... Just stepping foot in the Octagon, thats a victory.Of course, not everyone will agree. Those who labeled Brooks foray into MMA as misguided and viewed the UFCs promotion of him as undeserved will point to the expected result as confirmation of their steadfast opinion,?but theyre missing the point. Brooks journey was more than just about a check mark in the win-loss column -- its about taking control of your life, regardless of how old you are, and doing what makes you happy.I dont put any stock into starting earlier or starting later, Brooks said. To me its never too late to start anything you want to do, and if you think so Im sorry your dreams are so small.Brooks couldnt contain his smile as he walked to the Octagon on Saturday night while Living Colours Cult of Personality, the song that became synonymous with CM Punk the wrestler, played over the arena sound system. It was a smile we hadnt seen from him in years. Quicken Loans Arena erupted as if LeBron James hit a game-winning basket as soon as his song started to play. It was the moment his fans had been waiting for since CM Punk walked away from the WWE for good in the same arena almost three years ago.As soon as the fight started, however, Gall put Brooks on his back, and it was over two minutes later when he was forced to tap. But the loss didnt erase Brooks smile. If anything, the loss made him want to get back into the gym and train for his next fight.In life you go big or you go home, Brooks said as he stood in the Octagon after his first fight. I just like to take challenges. It was a hell of a mountain to try to climb, and I didnt get to the summit today, but that doesnt mean Im going to give up. It doesnt mean Im going to stop. I will be back, believe it or not. This is the most fun Ive ever had in my life. Its the second-best night of my life, besides marrying my wife.The sellout crowd didnt get to see Brooks on his feet for long or throw any punches while he was on his back, effectively sucking the life out of the building, but hearing him talk after the fight gave them an opportunity to give him a standing ovation on his way out of the Octagon.I know there are a lot of doubters, but lifes about falling down and getting up. It doesnt matter how many times you get knocked down, its about getting back up.dddddddddddd So if theres any kid out there thats told by parent or a coach or a teacher or somebody they look up to thats supposed to push them and believe in them and theyre told, no, dont listen to them. Believe in yourself. Sometimes the outcome isnt what you desire it to be, but the true failure in life is not trying at all. I know it sounds preachy and kind of weird coming from a guy who just got beat up, but f--- it, this is the time of my life.Brooks would have liked to have made his debut earlier, but a shoulder injury and a herniated disk in his back which required surgery pushed his first match all the way to UFC 203 in Cleveland, and to the same arena where he walked into WWE chairman Vince McMahons office on Jan. 24, 2014, and told him he was done with professional wrestling for good. He walked out of the Quicken Loans Arena, got in his car and drove about five hours on Interstate 90 west to his home in Chicago and never looked back.I think I jokingly might have said Im cursed in this building, but I actually truly believe one of the best things that ever happened to me, happened in this building, Brooks said. It was a breaking point on both sides and something that needed to happen, and it needed to happen dramatically. Things happen for a reason, and Im here now. Theres a little bit of a thought of how poetic that is.Brooks married April Jeanette Mendez, better known to wrestling fans as AJ Lee, on June 13, 2014. April followed in her husbands footsteps and left the WWE last year, and they live in Chicago with their dog, Larry. The fact that the couple is able to lead a normal life now, while Brooks follows his dream of being a UFC fighter, is one of the biggest reasons Brooks has no regrets about his decision, regardless of what his record in the Octagon ends up being.Traveling sucks, and I just got burnt out on it, he said. No matter how frustrated, beat up or bad a day I had in the gym, I would always go home, see my wife, see my dog and sleep in my own bed and take a shower in my own shower ... I get to sleep in my bed every night. No matter how hard training was, I get to go home and kiss my wife. Thats a luxury in my world. I never used to get to do that.While Brooks didnt officially sign with the UFC until December, he knew he wanted to transition into mixed martial arts after leaving the WWE. This wasnt about him leaving one pro-wrestling promotion for another or leaving the WWE and returning in a year or two for a big pay day. He was looking to change his life forever.I knew this was going to happen, Brooks said. My wife and I are the same in every respect. Weve kind of visualized our lives unfolding, and aside from a few twists and turns, it happened exactly how we always thought. Did I know it was going to be in Cleveland? Did I know it was going to be in the UFC? No, maybe, maybe not, but I knew I was going to fight.Saturdays result doesnt mean Brooks is going to fade away and quit what he has just started. The journey to finally get to the Octagon has been too hard and too fun for him to give it all up now that he has started the next chapter of his life.Im happy. Thats all that matters to me, Brooks said. Im in this for the long haul for sure. ' ' '