Zuffa CEO Lorenzo Fertitta was recently interviewed by ESPN.com and commented on CM Punk’s upcoming Octagon debut.
Fertitta promised Punk’s UFC debut, which is rumored for late 2015, will come against someone “competitive”
UFC will most likely go outside of the promotion for Punk’s first opponent, but it’s going to be left up to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.
“I’m going to defer to Joe Silva. We’ll let him bring two to three names to the table and we’ll figure it out from there. But I guarantee you it will be a competitive guy.”
He also commented on the type of opponent he sees for Punk’s first fight:
“I think it has to be somebody with some level of credentials. It’s not just going to be some guy off the street. It’s going to be somebody who is a professional mixed martial artist — certainly somebody who MMA media will recognize and know.”
He added that Punk’s first MMA fight will likely be the co-main event of whichever card they settle on.
