Former WWE Superstar CM Punk spoke with Dan Gelston of Associated Press this week to promote his MMA training and his eventual UFC debut, which is now expected to take place at UFC 199 in June.
“This is new to me. It’s not the same old boring (stuff) that I’ve been doing for God knows how long. People are talking about it. Some people are upset, some people love it, some people think it’s inspirational. I’m pretty sure everybody has an opinion on it.”
Punk made it no secret that he was burned out and fed up towards the end of his WWE run. Despite his own commitment to becoming an MMA fighter, he’s been met with doubters and critics who don’t think he’s in it for the long haul. Punk is embracing it all and plans to fight several times for the UFC, no matter how his debut goes.
“I didn’t move up to Milwaukee, I’m not training my ass off and getting hurt, going back into the gym just so I can one-and-done it,” Punk said. “This is what I do now.”
UFC President Dana White revealed this week that Punk will most likely be fighting at UFC 199 in June, not the company’s big UFC 200 show the following month. The reasoning for having Punk debut at 199 is that it would be much easier to determine Punk’s drawing power on a ‘secondary’ event. If Punk fights at UFC 200, there’s no way to know how much of an impact Punk’s debut had on the bottom line.
“There’s part of me that cares because UFC 200 is going to be a big deal,” Punk said. “I’ve spoken to Dana about it, trying to figure out what’s best for both parties. It’s just a smarter business decision.”
