Why Do We Care About CM Punk Fighting?

More than 600 days have passed since the world’s preeminent mixed martial arts organization signed a complete novice to its roster. Phil Brooks had dabbled in jiu jitsu and as a younger man in kenpo karate, but as far as martial arts experience level relative to other UFC signees, he ranked somewhere below Jason Thacker. He wasn’t a noteworthy athlete or physical specimen – a 36-year-old with a body beaten by 14 years of the road and body slams. Brooks made it to the UFC via a series of unlikely events.

After years honing his craft as a pro wrestler, he made it to the WWE in spite of his remarkably unremarkable stature. Some years of underutilization followed until he broke out into one of the promotion’s biggest stars and a veritable mainstream name in 2011. Despite his success, his unhappiness in his role grew to the point he abruptly departed WWE in 2014. The same year, UFC pay-per-view sales hit a sharp downturn as the promotion was in between superstars. Brooks, or CM Punk (which I’ll call him from now on, because his real name certainly didn’t get him signed), was a visible and vocal fan of the UFC and MMA. He attended events and charmed the UFC’s Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White. Just a few years earlier, Fertitta and White never would have considered signing Punk to the UFC, but by late 2014, they had established the UFC as a legitimate sports entity; there were no worries of the signing of a novice pro wrestling star hurting their credibility as an organization.

Without any one of those occurrences, UFC never would have signed CM Punk.

The signing was met with its share of mockery. However, the seemingly infinite count of days from his signing – a time riddled with injuries, poor reports from the gym, and doubts from many that he would ever fight – is finally winding down. On September 10 on pay-per-view, Punk will debut against Mickey Gall.

Gall, 24, is a prospect too unproven to know what kind of prospect he is. What is known is that he’s unbeaten in two pro bouts and three amateur, holds a brown belt in BJJ, and has been training for MMA specifically for about five years. Almost every indicator points to a decisive win for Gall, although placing a ton of stock in a fighter so unproven is walking a minefield.

To summarize, Punk is nearing his 38th birthday, is far from a freak athlete, has not gotten great marks in training from the vague reports made, and is likely to lose. Yet, on a card featuring a heavyweight title fight with a hometown champ, the former heavyweight champion, and Urijah Faber, the fighter with the spotlight may be the least skilled. Why do we care about CM Punk?

The concept of a pro wrestler competing in mixed martial arts is no way novel. Some of the biggest stars in UFC history have been pro wrestlers. PRIDE was created based on the idea of a pro wrestler with no real experience (Nobuhiko Takada) fighting Rickson Gracie. In PRIDE’s early years, pro wrestlers of pro wrestling fame buoyed the struggling promotion until another pro wrestler grew popular enough from fighting to carry the promotion on his own. Even after that point, you could close your eyes, spin around, point a fighter at a PRIDE card, and it likely had at least one pro wrestler fighting. (It reached a point where they signed Vader in 2005.)

Punk is merely the latest in a long line of wrestlers to fight, and he is neither the best wrestler, the best athlete, nor the biggest star to do so. The intrigue of seeing a pro wrestler fight is passé – we know that success or failure is determined by the specific athlete’s ability to adapt to a new sport and is in no way related to their other profession.

CM Punk is one man embarking on an individual endeavor to prove himself as a martial artist. He could have done it on a smaller show so only shaky cell phone videos of the fight would exist to mitigate potential embarrassment, but instead he chose to do it under the brightest lights of them all in high definition. Of course, there were significant monetary considerations with that selection, but that makes it no less of a bold choice for a high profile beginner. Even with the best outcome imaginable, the fight will be ugly and reveal his inexperience.

What can an average, aging, determined athlete do after training at a top gym for about a year-and-a-half? CM Punk will answer that question – perhaps not an often-asked one – on Saturday. It’s a question that hasn’t been addressed in this era at this level – some would argue it shouldn’t be addressed at the UFC level at all. Regardless of pre-event opinion, Punk’s journey and performance should add appreciation for this sport’s level of difficulty. Nobody without a significant martial arts background is going to excel after such a short period of steady training. CM Punk doesn’t have to excel in the cage on Saturday; he may not even have to win to get another shot in the UFC. What he needs to be is competitive against another beginner that had a significant head start on him. If he can do that, it’s a win in my book.

Dan Plunkett has covered MMA for 411Mania since 2008. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @Dan_Plunkett.