mma / Columns

What’s Next for The UFC-CM Punk Experiment?

June 4, 2018 | Posted by Dan Plunkett

This Saturday’s UFC 225 event features several elite fighters at or near the peak of their game, some greats on the downside of their careers, and exciting prospects chasing the biggest wins to date. Falling into none of these categories is CM Punk, the former WWE champion who will compete in the opening match of the main card.

It would be unfair to call Punk’s foray into fighting an experiment considering he has dedicated about three-and-a-half years to the endeavor, but the UFC is certainly experimenting with Punk. To this point, it’s been an odd, drawn-out experiment.

In December 2014, at the end of a down pay-per-view year, Punk announced his signing with the UFC. At that point, he hadn’t done any serious training to prepare for the sport, which is why it took another twenty-one months before Punk would step into the cage for the first time.

Punk was significantly overmatched in that debut fight against Mickey Gall. Gall, the younger, more athletic, more experienced, and more talented fighter, took Punk down, beat him up, and submitted him after two minutes. It was a complete shellacking, with Punk not showing any signs of promise in the bout.

The fight made it clear that Punk was not going to compete at anything close to the UFC level, which led to uncertainty over whether the UFC would bring him back again. However, it appears the promotion was happy with pay-per-view sales Punk drove for that fight. Twenty-one months after the Gall fight, Punk is back for another round, this time against an opponent that appears closer to his level in Mike Jackson.

The question going in to the Punk vs. Jackson fight is probably the same question we’ll be left with after: What’s next for this UFC-CM Punk experiment?

CM Punk turns 40 in October, he is not particularly athletic, and he is still a beginner. Combined with his performance against Gall, there does not appear to be realistic hope that Punk will achieve something as remarkable as one victory over a mid-level UFC welterweight in his career. Against Jackson, Punk will at least have a chance to show something. With double the experience, he should show significant improvements from the Gall fight, but even that might not be enough to get the job done against Jackson.

If Punk loses to Jackson, there is little room for UFC to do but end the experiment. The promotion reached deep down into the talent field to match Punk with Jackson; if Punk can’t pass this test, what more could UFC do to accommodate him?

Even if Punk drives significant pay-per-view sales for his second fight, there comes a point at which you have to cut the cord. Ken Shamrock set UFC business records in two consecutive fights in 2006, but even that wasn’t enough to save him from the chopping block. In the event of a loss, Punk would need to draw blow away pay-per-view numbers—larger than he drew for his first fight—for it to make sense to keep him on board.

And so, it is fairly clear that the UFC-Punk experiment should end with a Mike Jackson victory on Saturday. But what if Punk wins?

There is no real precedent for the treatment CM Punk is receiving from the UFC. Whereas in the past even big names like Kimbo Slice were forced to adapt to UFC’s standards and fight UFC level competition, the UFC has adapted itself to accommodate Punk. Mickey Gall might not be in the UFC if it weren’t for Punk, and Mike Jackson certainly wouldn’t be competing on a UFC card if it weren’t for Punk.

Can the UFC keep scraping the bottom of the barrel to find opponents to keep Punk active? At what point does the novelty wear off and he stops drawing at a level justifying his pay?

Punk is hardly the first older professional to jump into MMA and not take to the sport. The most notable example is Nobuhiko Takada, a major Japanese pro wrestling star whose feud with Rickson Gracie launched Pride. Takada was never able to win a legitimate MMA fight, but while his drawing power did diminish with his losses (he finished with a record of 2-6-2, with both victories being works), his retirement match drew the seventh-largest live audience in MMA history with 52,228 fans.

One of the key differences between Takada and Punk is that Takada fought big names every time out. (His list of opponents reads like a hall of fame class, with Rickson Gracie, Mark Coleman, Mark Kerr, Royce Gracie, Igor Vovchanchyn, and Mirko Cro Cop). Comparatively, Punk is fighting opponents whose names are only known because they are fighting CM Punk. Even if he can beat the Mike Jacksons of the sport, fan interest likely won’t be sustainable unless he fights known commodities.

If the UFC is okay with diving deeper into the freak show pool, there are known commodities that UFC could bring in to fight Punk. However, the UFC has historically steered clear of those murky waters, with Punk himself being an exception. If the UFC wants to steer away from the freak show route, “known commodities” means Punk fighting established UFC fighters he won’t have any real chance of beating.

For now, it’s clear that CM Punk is facing a must-win situation on Saturday. For whatever happens next, Punk needs to get the job done to keep fighting on the big stage.

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.

article topics :

CM Punk, UFC, Dan Plunkett