CM Punk trained on and off for years in Brazilian jiu-jitsu with the Gracies. He spent most of his life in the pro-wrestling industry. Yet, it’s actually kickboxing that he has taken to best since he’s been training in mixed martial arts.
Punk said at a media day during UFC International Fight Week in Las Vegas that his coach Duke Roufus has told him that his stand up is ahead of every other part of his MMA game so far.
“Everybody asks Duke, ‘Well, how’s he doing?’ and Duke tells everybody that he thinks my best area right now is striking, believe it or not,” Punk said. “Which is mind-boggling to me. Striking is the one thing that I never did. I’ve hit mitts before. I’ve done boxing and stuff like that. But just all the little nuances, with like everything you need to do with your feet, your head, just movement, correct movement. That’s been the most challenging thing aside from wrestling.”
Punk, 36, is making a widely publicized and oft-criticized transition from being one of WWE’s top stars to the UFC. Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, signed with the UFC to much ballyhoo in December, but there is no timetable yet for his debut in the Octagon. And that’s OK with him. He’ll let Roufus and his other coaches at Roufusport decide when he’s ready to go, which might not be until 2016.
“This is very much about me, this whole journey,” Punk said. “But I’ve got a whole team behind my back and I’m not here to let them down, I’m not here to embarrass them. I want to be able to go in there and get my hand raised and say, ‘You want to train, you just want to lose some weight, you want to be a mixed martial artist? I don’t care, come to Roufusport.’ I want to be able to say that. There’s a lot more than just me finding out something about myself on the line through all this.”
Punk has taken his new career very seriously. Recently, he moved to Milwaukee so he can be closer to the gym. He still has a home in Chicago, but is renting a place near Roufusport, so he can be there as much as possible.
The learning curve is obviously steep and Punk has never denied that. He is, after all, a man in his mid-30s trying to pick up an entirely new sport essentially from scratch. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t confident and in this for the long haul.
“I don’t think I’d be doing this if I didn’t think I was gonna win my first fight,” Punk said. “My mindset is not, hey I’m gonna do this just to get paid and I expect to lose. That’s definitely not what’s gonna happen.”
Originally, Brooks thought he would fight at middleweight. That changed since he lost almost 20 pounds right away training. Now, he believes he’ll compete at welterweight. Punk said he’s walking around now between 190 and 195 pounds. He no longer lifts weights as much as he used to while in pro wrestling.
“That was the big thing,” Punk said. “When I was on the road, it was like wake up, find out what town you’re in, get some breakfast, find a gym. Now, I have a gym. I sleep in my bed every night. I go to the gym, I do my MMA stuff and if I get any extra time I’m normally running. I find that one, two days a week I’m grabbing weights and that’s really different.”
Punk has drawn many compliments from his Roufusport teammates for his work ethic. That probably should not come as a surprise if you know anything about his past in WWE and his ability to outwork everyone. However, Punk’s best skill so far being striking is certainly a stunner.
“Duke says I’m doing OK,” Punk said. “Duke won’t lie to me.”