White was quoted as stating, “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”.
The UFC announced the signing of the former WWE talent in December 2014 and he quickly joined the Roufusport camp out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Punk experienced a series of setbacks due to injury but finally made his UFC debut in September 2016 at the UFC 203 pay-per-view against Mickey Gall.
Punk was outclassed in the contest against a skilled fighter in Gall and was stopped in the opening round of the bout.
While Punk was not seen as ready for UFC caliber opponents, he did demonstrate an ability to draw that few inside of the promotion could. The pay-per-view, which was headlined by Stipe Miocic defending the heavyweight title against Alistair Overeem, did in excess of 425,000 buys. The strong number was credited to the added buys Punk added to a show that would have likely done well under 300,000 buys without him.
In the same interview, White was also optimistic about a return of Brock Lesnar to the UFC. Lesnar’s contract with the WWE will expire later this year. Lesnar last fought for the promotion in July 2016 and defeated Mark Hunt by unanimous decision. The win was tainted in the aftermath of the event after it was revealed that Lesnar failed both an out-of-competition and a fight night drug test. As a result, Lesnar still has a portion of this suspension he would have to serve before he could be licensed to fight again. The former UFC heavyweight champion will turn 41 years old this July.
I see the same result for Punk going forward, I just think he got into the game too late. Lesnar I can see doing 1 more UFC fight and that’s about it. He’s not getting any younger.
Of course he will! I remember Dana White saying after his fight with Gall that Punk would fight again, but probably not with the UFC. Its amazing what a lack of major stars and a down year will do to change someones mind
Punk was smart with his WWE money and has invested well, at this point fighting is just a passion project for him that happens to pay very well, I doubt he would disagree with your viewpoint on it.
As for Lesnar, if he re-signs with the 'E come Mania time I don’t see him ever fighting again.
Punk holds a grudge. I doubt we’ll ever see him back in WWE. I wouldn’t rule out a New Japan run though, if their growth continues. Not sure I’ll ever believe he’s coming back to wrestling until the bell rings on his first match back though. Seems like Vince and co. burned out his love for it.
I’m guessing Dana wouldn’t be adverse to Punk doing ocassional time in WWE like Brock. But Punk himself seems to have zero interest. I could only see him in ROH or NJPW. Good luck to him on his next fight. Couldn’t be any worse than last time.
I just can’t think of an active UFC fighter that would have the requisite lack of skill, lack of experience and lack of natural athleticism that would allow CM Punk to be competitive. If he gets another fight good for him. I would put him in with a completely past it featherweight.
In terms of Brock, I would watch him in rematch with Overeem. An interesting match would actually be Brock v Cormier, i.e. the Cormier simply takes the place of Jon Jones.