In
what seems like another life I had a short and not so illustrious part time job
as a contributor for an MMA website. Although it has been quite awhile since
I’ve written on the subject.
However, for those in the know,
you may recall that over the weekend, news broke about Phil “C.M. Punk” Brooks
being recruited and making a fight debut sometime in 2015. This news has
prompted me to return to the subject in MMA as I have strong feelings about
this move, as well as what it means for the UFC.
(For those that haven’t read
the story it can be viewed HERE
via ESPN)
I can’t say that I have been a
long time fan of C.M. Punk, though I did get the chance to see him wrestle
against The Rock at WWE’s Royal Rumble event in January of 2013. (And before
you get to judging me for watching “wrasslin’” – I will say that though I no
longer watch it regularly, I grew up on the stuff. My father, brother and I
used to watch it when I was young. It has a certain level of nostalgia for me
these days, likely always will.) At any rate, I thought Punk was great,
athletic, fun to watch, played a great heel (bad guy, for you pro wrestling
newbs out there) and really put on what I thought was a good show along with
The Rock.
All that considered, when I
heard he had been signed to the UFC. The first thing I asked myself was why?
Obviously I wasn’t the only one.
Of course the easy answer is to sell tickets- which it probably will. Those
that have followed MMA for any length of time will no doubt recall the
promotion making a similar unveiling with Brock Lesnar in 2008.
The difference with Lesnar is he
was a highly decorated collegiate wrestler. While C.M. Punk has reportedly had
some level of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training over the course of several years,
I’d speculate that its miniscule compared to the foundation Lesnar had upon
entering the UFC.
The bare bones details for C.M. Punk are: no previous
amateur of professional fight experience*, and he is roughly 36 years old. Needless
to say Punk is going to face an uphill battle as he prepares for this debut.
As far as the UFC goes, I had been a diehard fan for
several years, but have fallen off as of late. In fact, before this past
Saturday and catching an unplanned glimpse of UFC 181, I hadn’t watched a bout
since Silva v. Weidman II. This isn’t necessarily the fault of the UFC, not
entirely anyway. I admittedly have never been a big “sports” fan. Add to that
an influx of new (or at least new to me) fighters and I found myself tuning in
less and less. With Punk being added to the roster, I am sure of one thing, it will
generate revenue. But does this hurt their credibility? Truthfully, no. Dana White
himself is quoted as saying, “He wanted to give it a shot, so we gave
him an opportunity. It's not like Brock Lesnar. We're not going to throw the
kitchen sink at him. Lesnar had a wrestling background. [CM Punk] is going to
fight a guy who is 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 -- something like that.” Based on that if it is handled appropriately, it’ll sell
tickets and have the added bonus of allowing Punk to prove himself.
All that being said, I have to say I’m rooting for the
guy (didn’t see that coming did you?). You have to admire and respect a guy
that tries something that’s outside his comfort zone. And, I dunno about you,
but getting punched in the face is outside of my comfort zone.
Speaking of comfort zones. You might even find me back
in one of my old ones come 2015; watching Phil “C.M. Punk” Brooks make his UFC debut.
*That
I was able to uncover, if I am wrong on this feel free to correct me.
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