CM Punk will be back in the UFC sooner than we all thought.
In September of 2016, Phil Brooks, better known as CM Punk, stepped into the UFC Octagon for his debut MMA fight against Mickey Gall. The fight did not exactly go Punk’s way. He was taken down within seconds and finished via rear naked choke at 2 minutes 14 seconds of the first round. Many believed that this would be the WWE superstar’s last foray into MMA, but it appears he is back. Dana White has been hinting at a return for several months, and just today, Punk released a tweet implying that he would fight at UFC 225 in Chicago.
A fan on Twitter asked him:
“When are we gonna see you cry again in the Octagon?”
The 39 year old Punk replied:
June nine, after I win and lock eyes with my beautiful wife, embrace my coaches and shout out my entire team https://t.co/TmzRWR2kbn
— Coach (@CMPunk) March 12, 2018
Of course everyone is speculating about who his opponent could possibly be. One suggested name is Mike Jackson, who fought and was finished out by Gall a few months before Gall took on Punk. However, this is pure speculation, and the UFC has not released any official announcement.
The other question is: how much has Punk improved? He appeared woefully unprepared for elite level competition in his last and only outing, which is unsurprising. Presumably he has improved in the past two years, but he would have to have made leaps and bounds in order to compete well in the UFC.
Right now UFC 225 doesn’t have a main event fight, although a Middleweight title fight between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero is reportedly in the works. Punks return is arguably an embarrassment to the organization and sport as a whole, but would undoubtedly generate fan interest, especially for a show in his hometown.
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