This is not Brock Lesnar, but it’s close. It’s in the wheelhouse, at least. CM Punk is going to make his MMA debut inside the Octagon in 2015, which will at least be a tentpole for the world of MMA media for the foreseeable future, so that’s nice. Yes, CM Punk has a solid BJJ background. Yes, he knows some striking. Yeah, he’s a former pro wrestler who knows how to handle his body, but he says he’ll likely be making his debut at middleweight, maybe welterweight… Two of the deepest divisions in all of MMA.
So it’s almost 2015, Ben Askren is not in the UFC but CM Punk is. I truly wonder how much of a cut/market share of Reebok merchandise he’ll get compared to other fighters who have been doing this for a while?
I don’t mean to sound overly bitter here, but a wrestler knows his place, he knows there’s a hierarchy, and while Punk said all the right things, about how he respects every fighter in the UFC, if he were in Stu Hart’s dungeon, he’d be getting stretched just for saying he wanted to hit someone with an open palm upside the head. Here’s the universe’s worst way of summing anything up:
It is what it is.
Me? Besides my gripes place above these words, I’m down for Punk in MMA. It will be interesting. I just wish he could’ve gone to Bellator. That would’ve likely worked out better in the long run. Dude can work the mic, that’s what matters I suppose. I still worry about his safety. Brock was a physical specimen, an NCAA champion. CM Punk rolls with some highly paid and highly skilled people, but we all know what Carlson Gracie said about BJJ…