CM Punk getting another chance at UFC greatness…
At 39 years old, Phil Brooks, better known as WWE star CM Punk, made his professional MMA debut. At UFC 203, he faced rookie Mickey Gall, and was completely blown out -getting taken down within the opening seconds, beaten on, and finished at 2 minutes and 14 seconds of the first round. Now it looks like UFC President Dana White is ready to give him another shot.
This week Dana spoke to the Associated Press in Boston, and when asked about the pro-wrestling star, predicted he would appear again in the Octagon.
“I like that guy. He’s a good dude. He wants one more. He wants to get another shot. I’m going to give it to him. He’s a completely different case than most normal human beings, so I’m going to give him another shot,” White said.
By “different case,” Dana basically means ‘bigger draw.’ There’s nothing to suggest that CM Punk has actually acquired the skills to compete in the UFC, but he will undoubtedly attract viewers. The UFC got it’s first taste of WWE crossover fans with the infamous Brock Lesnar, who became the biggest UFC star in history with only a few fights. With Lesnar gone (at least for now) CM Punk is the only real opportunity for the UFC to cash in on WWE stardom short of Dana White himself throwing down with Vince McMahon.
When Dana signed CM Punk back in 2014, he was training under the expert guidance of Duke Roufus at the Roufusport MMA Academy, home to elite UFC fighters like Tyron Woodley and Anthony Pettis. Still, Punk’s biggest accolade before stepping in the cage was a BJJ blue belt, which usually requires around 2 years of training.
White said that he did not yet have an opponent for Cm Punk in mind, but offered that he was “working on it.” There should be no shortage of fighters eager to take on the pro-wrestling star.
Although Brooks likely does not need the money, he did receive a healthy $500,000 for his first showing in the UFC along with PPV points for the show that did an estimated 450,000 buys.
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