Former WWE superstar CM Punk has been heavily criticized for his special treatment by the UFC. Ever since he’s made the switch to MMA, Punk made his MMA debut in the UFC on the main card of a pay-per-view. Even though he lost that fight, the 0-1 welterweight will once again be heavily promoted and featured on the main card of UFC 225.
Meanwhile, other more-deserving fighters are fighting on the prelims and barely receive a fraction of Punk’s publicity.
For those reasons, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan believes the former professional wrestler belongs on the amateur circuit and not the main card of a UFC PPV:
“IT SHOULDN’T EVEN BE ON THE ‘TUESDAY NIGHT CONTENDER’ SHOW. IT SHOULD BE IN SOME AMATEUR EVENT SOMEWHERE. THAT’S REALLY WHAT THEY ARE. THEY’RE GUYS LEARNING HOW TO COMPETE. THEY’RE IN THE FIRST FIGHT ON THE PAY-PER-VIEW. THAT’S F–KING CRAZY.”
Punk, who’s real name is Phil Brooks, lost that UFC debut in a completely uncompetitive fight against Mickey Gall, who effortlessly took down and submitted Punk halfway through the first round. That was back at UFC 203 in 2016, and Punk hasn’t fought since. Now, nearly two years later, Punk is being offered another fight in the UFC, this time against Mike Jackson.
Punk himself said he has no business taking a main card spot from the likes of more established UFC fighters such as Alistair Overeem and Holly Holm, but that hasn’t stopped the criticism.
However, at least this time around he will be facing a fighter of equal caliber. Jackson too lost his only UFC fight to Gall, but “The Truth” only lasted 45 seconds before he was dropped and submitted.
For that reason, Rogan concedes that Punk will likely look a lot better at UFC 225 than he did in his Octagon debut:
“He’s now fighting a fighter who’s commensurate in talent and there’s nothing wrong with being a beginner in martial arts. But there’s something wrong with thinking you can be a beginner and fight Mickey Gall. It was a foolish venture. My approach to it was this is going to be a very good lesson for people who are fans of positive thinking and they think that’s enough. That s–t is not enough. If you weigh 110 pounds, you can positive think your way to the bank, Francis Ngannou’s still going to punch your brains out. There’s just no way around it.”
Do you agree with Rogan’s assessment of Punk’s MMA career?
