https://youtu.be/ZMh6GlNaAjU
While nothing is official yet, there is a strong belief within the MMA community that the UFC may have found the man who will be CM Punk’s first opponent inside the Octagon.
“Hey Dana White, I don’t know if CM Punk has an opponent, but I would love to fight that man.”
Those are the words from Mickey Gall, a 23 year old emerging 170-pound MMA prospect who has suddenly become the latest odds-on-favorite to get the “lottery ticket fight” as CM Punk’s first opponent in the UFC.
Gall, who trains under UFC veterans Jim and Dan Miller, competed in his professional MMA debut in the main event of the Dead Serious 17 event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in a fight that will be featured on UFC President Dana White’s new reality show, “Dana White: Lookin’ For A Fight,” which just so happens to be exactly where White said the UFC would be finding Punk’s first opponent.
The Dead Serious 17 event took place back in November, and featured Gall’s impressive professional MMA debut, as he submitted Ron Templeton with a rear-naked choke in just under three minutes and then wasted no time in asking Dana White, who was in attendance with his reality show camera crew on hand, to let him be Punk’s first opponent in the UFC.
“I like where your heads at,” said an impressed White, who offered his congratulations to the rookie, who also has two amateur MMA victories under his belt, one of which was also won with a rear-naked choke submission finish.
Although the fight took place over two months ago, it appears nothing has been decided yet regarding whether or not Gall will get to introduce Punk into the UFC, all-the-while likely welcoming himself into the Octagon as well. Still, that hasn’t stopped the MMA rookie from banging the CM Punk-drum as loudly and publicly as possible, as he has continued to call him out through social media and in interviews with various MMA media outlets.
“I haven’t heard from Dana White. I’m hoping. I’m around,” Gall told MMAFighting.com in one such interview. “I think they’re still trying to figure things out. Now I’m starting to get the buzz, and people are sending me these articles. My phone’s been blowing up with websites posting how I’m probably going to be his opponent. I only hope. I hope, man.”
There is a lot of speculation surrounding the Gall-Punk issue, as many are of the belief that the UFC has already decided on the fight and are simply doing all of these things as a way of doing early, organic promotion for the bout. Whether or not that is the case is up for debate, but it’s clear that if the UFC wants to capitalize on the situation, it is there for the taking and is already gaining momentum as the world continues to wait for official word on who the former WWE Superstar will be fighting in his MMA debut, which has been guaranteed by White to take place at some point in 2016.
You can watch footage of Gall calling out Punk in front of Dana White at the 1:06 mark of the above promotional video for the season premiere of “Dana White: Lookin’ For A Fight,” which will be available Monday, January 11th on the UFC’s official YouTube channel.
Hey @CMPunk. Hi. I am extremely free in July. You busy? Would love to welcome you to the mma world. #UFC200 @danawhite @ufc @lorenzofertitta
— Mickey Gall (@mickeygall) January 5, 2016
