The UFC And Its CM Punk Problem

The UFC appears to have a big problem. After making a blockbuster announcement at UFC 181 in December 2014 that former WWE star CM Punk had signed a multi-fight contract with the world’s largest MMA promotion, their prized signing crashed and burned spectacularly on pay-per-view to a 2-0 novice. While the company surely didn’t expect Punk to become a contender in the welterweight division, it probably expected something more rewarding than the 2 minutes and 14 second beat down he received from Mickey Gall. It’s not that CM Punk lost that is so troubling for the UFC considering he was 38 years old and coming off of multiple surgeries to repair the damage done by a 15 year professional wrestling career. It was how.

Brooks charged the 24-year old Gall but was immediately taken down. Punk went for the home-run shot off the bat but telegraphed his punch, giving Gall the opportunity to change levels and put the MMA novice on his back. From there it was elementary. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown belt quickly mounted the former WWE champion and took his back, reigning down shots on the helpless Brooks. Following a struggle that saw Gall batter Brooks and leave his face swollen and lacerated, he was finally able to secure the fight-ending rear-naked choke. That was it.

The fight between the debuting Punk and the then 2-0 Gall was the third highest billed on the card and was perhaps more heavily promoted than the main-event showdown between Heavyweight champion/hometown hero Stipe Miocic and former Pride and Strikeforce champion Allistair Overeem. All for 2 minutes and 14 seconds of Punk getting pummeled.

UFC 203 outperformed most of the year’s non-McGregor/Rousey/UFC 200 cards so that is a good sign for CM Punk’s future prospects. However, Dana White’s words following the event certainly were not. At the post-fight presser, White told the world that he didn’t know if CM Punk would fight again. He later went on to say that if Punk were to fight again that “it probably shouldn’t be in the UFC.” Yikes.

After giving Brooks a whopping $500,000 for his lopsided loss, the boss was non-committal and unsupportive of his unlikely new star. After touting Punk’s credentials training with Roufusport and the UFC giving him his own show, “The Evolution of Punk,” it now seems as though Dana White wants to pull the plug on the CM Punk experiment. As murky as it seems to keep Punk on the UFC roster and give him chances he is only receiving because of his prior fame, it would be a major mistake for the UFC to give up on him.

Die-hard MMA fans point to Punk’s lack of experience with any MMA disciplines as reasons as to why he doesn’t belong in the UFC. They point to the scripted nature of professional wrestling and how his success in WWE in no way guarantees any positive results in the fight world. But the biggest complaint to date is that Punk is “taking a spot” away from a more deserving fighter.

Here is the thing: no “deserving figher” can be in CM Punk’s spot to begin with. Yes there are a multitude of better fighters that theoretically should be higher on the card than Brooks. Urijiah Faber’s fight went right before his and Faber is regarded as one of the all time greats of MMA and a pioneer whose notoriety convinced the UFC to fold the featherweight and bantamweight classes into the UFC from the WEC. Money talks though. Urijah Faber’s highest buyrate was 350,000 at UFC 132 for his much anticipated rematch against Dominick Cruz for the Bantamweight title. CM Punk’s debut against a 2-0 unknown drew a whopping 450,000 buys.

Some would argue that signing CM Punk was a bad idea for the world’s leading MMA promotion. But that’s just it. The UFC is a PROMOTION that PROMOTES fights. Bringing in CM Punk did not damage the sport anymore than signing James Toney back in 2010 was. In fact, James Toney came in disrespecting the sport and promoted the superiority of boxing, which was at the time more lucrative than the UFC due to the star power of Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto and the Klitschko brothers. CM Punk was treated like a major signing and he treated the sport with respect. He never once said he would be the best, instead taking the humble route and saying that he would need to train with a top camp to have a chance to be competitive in the octagon. Whereas Toney claimed that he would have no problem knocking out one of the sport’s legends in Randy Couture, Brooks simply stated that he wanted to be in a fight to complete a dream of his. If anything, Brooks has further legitimized the UFC to casual fans, proving that no one can just step foot inside the octagon and do well without years of dedication and training.

Dana White should absolutely give Phil “CM Punk” Brooks another chance with the UFC. Since his defeat in September, Punk’s opponent Gall has gone on to defeat rising star and UFC golden boy Sage Northcutt with the same rear-naked choke that ended Punk’s debut. In fact, Punk staying conscious while eating 20 significant strikes from Gall while in a dominant position could be the angle for Punk’s next fight: he may still be refining his striking and his groundwork, but even after 15 years of pro-wrestling and countless surgeries CM Punk can take a punch. Though it seems that there are no fighters that wouldn’t chew him up and spit him out, there is actually a fight on the roster that makes plenty of sense: Mike Jackson, Mickey Gall’s initial opponent in the UFC. Jackson made his UFC and professional MMA debut against Gall in February and lasted just 45 seconds before succumbing to Gall’s patented rear-naked choke. At 0-1, Jackson not only owns the same record as CM Punk, but he also is a whole lot closer to his skill level than Gall was.

With Punk “feverishly” trying to get one more fight in the UFC, it makes all too much sense to allow him to face Jackson. It certainly shouldn’t be on a pay-per-view card, but Brooks’ presence on a Fox Sports 1 card or even a Fight Pass event would significantly increase the amount of viewers the show would have otherwise. That, in turn is good for the sport as fighters who normally wouldn’t generate as much interest would be afforded the opportunity to impress in front of a wider audience.

The UFC signed Punk to a multi-fight deal and gave him more promotion than most full time fighters on their roster. To give up on him would be a waste of money, time and of buzz. The world will tune into another CM Punk fight. For Dana White, the only CM Punk problem that exists would be not letting him fight again.