“This is either going to be a phenomenal story or a terrific car crash.” – CM Punk
The UFC has a long and storied history with gimmicks. Heck, the entire thing was gimmicky back when it was founded in 1993. And even though the sport of mixed martial arts has evolved leaps and bounds since then, the UFC has never shied away from “freak show” fights no matter how ludicrous. They bring in ratings. Anyone remember when they allowed former heavyweight boxing champion James Toney to fight MMA legend Randy Couture at UFC 118?
The UFC also had a longstanding connection to professional wrestling. Athletes like Ken Shamrock and Brock Lesnar were superstars in both disciplines and at UFC 203 Phil Brooks, aka CM Punk, joined the club.
Shamrock and Lesnar, however, were professional athletes who were no strangers to combat sports and real competition. Shamrock was a talented catch wrestler and grappler before he entered pro wrestling in Japan or entered the Octagon. Lesnar was an NCAA Division 1 heavyweight wrestling champion.
Punk had done a bit of karate and jiu-jitsu growing up but had no amateur karate nor jiu-jitsu matches on his resume. He was essentially a man off the street when he made his MMA and UFC debut Saturday in Cleveland and the fight went exactly how it should have went.
If you play beer league hockey, how do you think you’d do in an NHL exhibition game? If you like to ball out with your buddies on the court, how would you do against an NBA D-league team? If you pound the pavement and work the heavy bag because you like boxing and it’s a fun way to keep in shape, go a few rounds with a golden gloves champ and see how that turns out.
Punk, 37, walked to the cage at the Quicken Loans Arena to his signature “Cult of Personality” entrance song and did so with a smile on his face. It was a cool moment. He wasn’t smiling for long once the fight started though.
Punk charged forward aggressively and was taken down by his 24-year-old opponent Mickey Gall immediately. Gall had just two professional fights under his belt but has been training with UFC-calibre fighters for the last five years. He has a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a well-rounded MMA skill set. He’s a real fighter. One with a bright future.
The fight lasted 134 seconds and it was tough to watch for about 132 of them. Gall battered Punk and eventually sunk in a rear-naked choke.
Punk managed to salvage some pride in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. Just to illustrate how out of place Punk is in the UFC, Rogan (a standup comedian, podcast host and UFC commentator) has an infinitely more impressive martial arts resume than Punk does.
Despite the embarrassing beat down, the whole thing was oddly moving. You have to admire the courage Punk showed. You can critique his technique all you want — and relative to any professional mixed martial artist Punk’s technique is atrocious — but you shouldn’t critique him for taking a chance and following a dream. He may have just inspired some people along the way too.
Here’s some reaction to CM Punk’s MMA debut:
