THE DECISION TO give Phil ‘CM Punk’ Brooks a shot in the UFC has garnered substantial criticism from certain quarters since he signed with the mixed martial arts organisation in December 2014.
However, now that his MMA debut has come and gone, and the 37-year-old former WWE star has actually entered the octagon — which many doubted he would do — the general sentiment appears to have changed.
Kudos to him for having the courage to take on the challenge, but ultimately the Chicago native, who had no previous mixed martial arts experience, was exposed and completely out of his depth as he was submitted after two minutes and 14 seconds of his bout against 24-year-old up-and-comer Mickey Gall last night at UFC 203 in Cleveland.
The experiment has been worthwhile for the UFC, who benefitted in terms of publicity and pay-per-view buys. Gall also enjoyed some time in the spotlight that he wouldn’t have had otherwise, and CM Punk fulfilled a longstanding dream of fighting for the biggest MMA organisation in the world.
After last night’s defeat, Punk insisted that he doesn’t intend to throw in the towel: “It was a hell of a mountain to try and climb, I didn’t get to the summit today but it doesn’t mean I’m going to give up, it doesn’t mean I’m going to stop. I will be back, believe it or not.”
However, if CM Punk does continue his MMA career, he probably won’t be doing so in the UFC. In an interview with The Fight Network, UFC president Dana White suggested that the ex-professional wrestler should probably consider a more modest stage than the biggest one in the sport.
“He probably shouldn’t have his next fight in the UFC. Having your first fight in the UFC is tough, as you see tonight, even if it is against a guy who’s 2-0. This is a tough place to learn.”
UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor was among those to pay tribute to CM Punk, however. TMZ tracked the Dubliner down in LA last night and he was full of praise for the novice fighter.
“I’ll tell you what,” said McGregor. “Fair play to him, because he got in there and fought, and not a lot of people do. Not a lot of people have the balls to make that walk, so fair play.
“He got his ass whooped. God bless, he got his ass whooped. Those WWE guys are straight pussies, I told you all, but he isn’t. He got in and fought, so fair play to him. Respect.”
