Midnight Mania! CM Punk’s wife confirms he wants to fight again

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Since his first abysmal fight at UFC 203 in Cleveland, Ohio, rumors have been swirling about whether CM Punk, given name Phil Brooks, will fight again; and whether that bout will occur under the UFC banner.

His wife, AJ Mendez-Brooks, appeared on the Jim Norton and Sam Roberts show to talk about an upcoming book she’s been writing, “Crazy is My Superpower”. In the interview, she also talked about her husband’s future in combat sports, and how difficult it was for her to watch him in a cage fight. Transcription via FloCombat’s Damon Martin:

“Yes, he wants to fight again,” Mendez-Brooks told the Jim Norton and Sam Roberts show. “I’m never going to be the person that stops someone from doing whatever their dream is so I support it.

“I just look at his face and say stay that way.”

Punk’s coach, Duke Roufus, has been posting on Instagram hinting that the professional wrestling star is in training for his next bout- but nothing official has been announced.

Punk earned praise for being courageous enough to step into the Octagon. He delivered a rousing speech afterwards about following your dreams. However, it always felt a little hollow when thousands of less famous people have had the courage to take that step for much less than the seven-figure payday Punk received. AJ Mendez-Brooks did confirm that he made at least a million dollars for the bout; the best guess for his actual payout is closer to two million with pay-per-view (PPV) points.

“I don’t think it hurt that for one night of working you get paid a million dollars. He was pretty psyched about that,” Mendez-Brooks said with a laugh. “He came backstage with the most giant smile on his face. He’s incredibly sweaty and I just threw myself on him and I’m like ‘I’m so freaking proud of you’.

“His speech was just so moving and I try not to get emotional in front of people so we just went to our little corner and it was so f*cking cool and I’m so proud of him.”

One can’t really blame Punk for either wanting to fight, or wanting to make the most money out of the experience possible. The UFC also took criticism for booking the bout. In pure economic terms, it made sense; Punk likely made the UFC five times the money he got paid to fight. I always maintained that the real blame lies with the fans that wanted to see the spectacle. Will those same fans turn out to see him fight after Mickey Gall dominated and choked him out? That remains to be seen.

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Insomnia

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Good Reads and Quick Hits

• A car accident has killed Pennington’s chance to fight for Nunes’ belt on December 30th. At least she and everyone involved are alive… that we know of.
• This heavyweight boxer just decided in the locker room he didn’t want to fight. No one has explained it yet. Honestly, I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often. Getting yourself ready to fight another human in a ring or a cage is a profoundly unusual experience.
• Y’all saw Michael Bisping is being sued by some guy he allegedly choked at the gym, right? According to injury lawyer Erik Magraken, the lawsuit is weak sauce. Also, Dana White has strong feelings about the guy.

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