The sky’s the limit for CM Punk in the UFC, according to the man himself.
The former WWE superstar has zero professional mixed martial arts experience, only took up the sport relatively recently, but he still believes that there is a chance that he may be able to work his way towards a UFC title shot.
Punk, real name Phil Brooks, made the huge claim on a recent episode of “The Herd”.
“I know people think this is a publicity stunt, I’m never going to set foot in the Octagon. I look forward to proving them wrong, but to me, it’s not super far-fetched to be like, ‘You know what? What if I put three or four wins together? Who’s to say I don’t get a title shot?'”
Former WWE superstar @CMPunk will finally make his debut at #UFC203 on Sept 10! https://t.co/A0zFfyaS6B pic.twitter.com/NhHwhDHJVr
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) June 23, 2016
Punk (0-0, 0-0 UFC) is well aware that fans don’t have high hopes for his MMA career, considering that he will be making his debut at the ripe old age of 37 against a fighter who was pretty much hand-picked for him and, with no disrespect to Mickey Gall (2-0, 1-0 UFC), wouldn’t have reached the big leagues so quickly if Punk didn’t need a match-up.
However, Punk has a simple message to all the haters out there – drink your hatorade.
“I’m a very positive thinking person. Of course I’m not going to saddle myself with this negativity that’s, ‘Oh, that’s it for me.’ Because to me in life, it’s so cliche and it sounds so corny, so Karate Kid-like, but it’s not about getting knocked down. It’s about how many times you get up. That’s why I train the way I do. I get knocked down in training every day, so on Sept. 10th I won’t get knocked down.”
“To wrestling fans who say, ‘Oh, this is B.S.’… the ones who say I’m going to fight one time are the same ones now saying I’m never going to make it to the Octagon. That’s for them to say. They’re entitled to their opinion, but I’ll prove them all wrong.”
Punk will make his promotional, professional and combat sports debut against Gall at UFC 203, which is scheduled for September 10 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
The card will be headlined by hometown hero and UFC heavyweight champion of the world Stipe Miocic’s first title defence against Alistair Overeem.
