As CM Punk reportedly prepares to make his pro wrestling return later this month, let’s take a walk down memory lane to a story published exactly six years ago as he was preparing to make his UFC debut. We now know how the CM Punk UFC experiment went, but before anyone knew what to expect from him, here’s a glimpse into how he was received before he even officially arrived.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED, AUGUST 14, 2015, 11:58 PM]
Irish UFC contender and former TUF veteran Cathal Pendred recently wrote a guest column for the Irish Mirror and made it pretty clear that after his recent, vicious verbal-exchanges with former WWE Superstar turned UFC fighter CM Punk, he would like to be the man to welcome Punk to his new profession.
Pendred spoke about the recent “Twitter War” he had with Punk, noting that the original comment that set Punk off was actually partially a dig at himself.
“I was half slagging myself off when I Tweeted a pic of him hitting the pads and commented that he makes me look like Ali,” Pendred wrote. “Fact is, people haven’t been too impressed with that part of my game either, so it was a little dig at me as well.”
Pendred continued, “In fairness he’s trained at a really good gym for the last year but no one makes their MMA debut in the UFC. You slowly build yourself up, work your way through the ranks. It’s a weird situation but I can understand from a business perspective why the UFC are going with it.
“He’s a very famous WWE figure in the States and has already brought a lot of attention to the business. I’ve no major objection to him, even if a stuntman entering this highly-skilled sport is the equivalent of me wanting to become a pro footballer and joining Man United.”
Pendred went on to refer to Punk as “the laughing stock of the UFC,” and made it clear he would love to be Punk’s first official opponent inside the Octagon.
“I’d love it,” said Pendred about the possibility of being Punk’s first UFC opponent. “It would be a bit of fun. He’ll probably be humiliated on his debut but the UFC will continue to use him to attract more supporters. I have my own fight in October to prepare for but if something comes of this fight down the line, I’ll jump at it.”
