CM Punk is hoping that his experience on the main stage in the WWE will translate to a successful Octagon debut.
CM Punk might be familiar with Hell in a Cell cage matches in the WWE, but the 37-year-old has yet to step foot in the UFC’s Octagon.
Punk, real name Phil Brooks, was added to the UFC roster over a year ago but timing complications and a shoulder injury delayed his debut. UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta assured fans that the former WWE star will face a “competitive” opponent and Dana White recently stated that Punk will take on newcomer Mickey Gall if he’s victorious at UFC Fight Night 82 on Feb. 6.
Gall, who was featured on Dana White’s Looking for a Fight YouTube series, submitted Ron Templeton in his professional debut and called out Punk in his post-fight celebration. The 24-year-old will take on Mike Jackson on Saturday to determine whether he’ll face Brooks in the future.
Punk is rooting for Gall to win and will be keeping a watchful eye on the New Jersey product this weekend.
“I saw the one fight, I know he trains with good guys and he seems like a good kid,” Punk told FOX Sports. “We’ll hopefully try to dig up more footage on him as time goes on. He’s a well-rounded guy but I think it’s one of those things where we’re not going to so much worry about everything he’s good at and worry about myself and worry about everything that I’m good at.
“I’ll be studying for sure. I might even wear glasses.”
The pressure is on for Brooks but the Duke Roufus student is hoping his experience in the WWE will kill any Octagon jitters when his inevitable debut arrives. In fact, Punk says he performs better when the stakes are high and the spotlight is on.
“I just do better in high-pressure situations and it’s weird for me to comment on it because I can’t understand people being freaked out by that,” Punk said. “Just because that’s been my life. I don’t see the big deal in it, but it might wind up being a factor. They talk about first fight jitters or Octagon shock or whatever they want to call it — that might happen to me. It might happen to them 10 fold. We’ll see.”
Mickey Gall vs. Mike Jackson will kick off the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs. Thompson on February 5th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.