Phillip Brooks, better known by his ring name CM Punk, went from World Wrestling Entertainment Champion to having a 0-1 record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in UFC 203 on Sept. 10.

The 37-year-old former professional wrestler’s debut only last two minutes and 14 seconds and
lost by submission to 2-0 fighter Mickey Gall, who is 24. This was Punk’s dream: To get the chance to fight in the UFC and the bravery to go into the octagon is commendable. But, what is the dream and how brave is he really?

Punk is well set. He has been wrestling for most of his life and has been able to climb the ranks in that world and he reached stardom in the WWE, which comes with a pretty penny. He built a legion of fans which still support him even after he left the WWE two years ago. His status allowed him to receive the three fight contract with the UFC with no past experience. Fairly easy when you think about his opponent’s journey.

Gall has been fighting since he was 13-years-old. Training hard, climbing the ropes in mixed martial arts and has been able to reach the UFC. Sound familiar? However, Gall has a long way if he wishes to reach the level Punk did in the WWE, which in the UFC is uncertain.

Unlike in the WWE, where superstars are chosen and match results decided based on crowd reaction and on the “buy rate,” the fighters in the UFC are a sort of independent contractor. Their results decide whether or not they get another fight. If Gall would have lost this fight, more certain then not, he would not have another fight in the UFC until he showed his stripes, again. 

So how brave is it really for Punk to go into a fight, lose, and still  have two fights guaranteed when Gall had the possibility of going back and fighting in gym in front of 50 people looming over his head if he lost?

Also, let us not forget that this is a job, Gall does this to survive. To be able to provide for himself. Punk is pretty much set for life financially. But, who do you believe received a better pay check?

According to MMA insider Front Row Brian, Punk received a base salary of $500,000 for fighting in comparison to Gall who made $30,000-$15,000 base and $15,000 for winning the fight.

Lastly, hypocrisy also plays into Punks performance with the UFC. Punk has always been critical of older wrestlers coming back to the WWE and taking the spotlight from the little guy. That was one of the reason for him leaving the WWE in the first place because of the return of Brock Lesner.

But what did Punk do in the UFC?

He came in, received a contract that veterans of the sport usually get, took the spot of other fighters who deserved the opportunity more and got paid half a million dollars to get beat up for two minutes.

Punk’s next fight is not known. President of the UFC Dana White was quoted in saying the maybe Punk should not have his next fight in the UFC. He later retracted that comment. So, only time will tell if Punk will see another shot, but the relationship he has with the UFC and what that means for
the rest of the fighters and the organization as a whole is very ugly.

This article appears in Sep 15-21, 2016.

8 replies on “CM Punk and the UFC: Dishonorable and Disrespectful”

  2. Here’s the reality. CM Punk is a huge draw for the UFC, and they would be stupid to let him go and lose boatloads of money in the process. The half million the UFC paid him was probably only a fraction of the profit he made for the UFC for fighting for 2 minutes. Only a handful of people knew who Mickey Gall was before facing CM Punk, but everybody knows who CM Punk was and they will come in droves to see him fight, win or lose.

  3. You make it sound like Punk waltzed in and cashed out. He trained for two years, and got the crap beat out of him.

  4. This is probably the worst writing that I have ever observed in an ostensibly professional publication. It is not the just the grammar and the misspellings—this “writer” seems to not have the least idea how to express concepts and ideas through language. This “article” wouldn’t receive a passing grade as a fourth grade book report. If the perpetrator of this offense against the written word has been paid even the slightest sum for said offense—then it makes what I could decipher of his garble as it concerns an unskilled person being paid for something he wasn’t very good at extremely ironic.

  5. Kgaard, thanks for sharing your observation on this “article”, or whatever it is Bryan was trying to write. I felt as if I blacked out somewhere along the way of trying to understand its content. Although I do know to read, and comprehend, this piece was difficult to get through.

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