Hey guys, did you hear that the UFC signed former WWE champion CM Punk? Oh, you did? Well, I guess it was a pretty big deal…
If you heard the news, you are still probably trying to wrestle with it…no, not that fake kind of wrestling! Well, not the real kind of wrestling, either.
Seriously though, reactions have been numerous, and they have ranged from ecstasy to unbridled rage. Bleacher Report’s own Jonathan Snowden was closer to the latter than the former. In his recent piece, he implored UFC President Dana White to “Send CM Punk Back to the WWE“:
This is a publicity stunt and a naked cash grab. The UFC is eschewing sport for spectacle, walking the opposite path it followed to grow the “sport” to this point. But there’s no underestimating the levels Dana White and Company will sink to in the name of American capitalism.
CagePotato’s ever-practical Matt Saccaro was more accepting:
CM Punk is a professional wrestler and BJJ weekend warrior who has the spare time and spare change to take an MMA fight. The UFC is happy to broadcast that fight for PPV dollars. This hurts the UFC’s image, but there wasn’t really much of an image to hurt. MMA has always been a circus act masquerading as a real sport, and now we have a real-life pro wrestling carnie to add to MMA’s menagerie of characters. What’s so bad about that?
Regardless of where anybody falls on the spectrum, however, the former Phil Brooks has put pen to paper: He is a UFC fighter.
The question is no longer “should the UFC sign him?” The question right now is, “What the heck can the UFC do with him?”
That discussion, frankly, is much more interesting.
Punk, unlike many WWE superstars, lacks a serious combat sports background. While Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, Alberto Del Rio and so on all own legitimate amateur wrestling credentials, Punk does not. Not only that, but he has no real athletic career of any kind, with his unscripted competitive experience limited to karate in his teenage years and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu hobby he enjoys today.
He will enter the UFC with a 0-0 record and credentials that are eclipsed by most fighters on the amateur circuit. There is no denying that if it weren’t for his name value and legions of fans, he would be years away from competing in a feeder organization like RFA or CFA…never mind the UFC.
So what the heck can the UFC do with somebody essentially pulled off the streets? That depends entirely on how long Punk is planning on sticking around.
At age 36, it would be hard to imagine Punk sticking around for any length of time, even if he was a serious athlete. Because of that, the UFC has two ways to approach his career: cash him in as hard as they can with one big fight, or try and keep things cushy enough for him to want to stick around.
When it comes to the former, throwing Punk into the cage with a lion is a good way to give “the rub” to an established fighter who needs some extra popularity. Take an above-average welterweight who has some staying power but absolutely no name value like John Hathaway or Hyun-Gyu Lim, and imagine their overnight stardom from being associated with a fight with “The Best in the World.”
Would Punk stand anything but the punchiest of a puncher’s chance? Of course not. Heck, making a fight with Lim would border on immoral. That said, if the UFC knows (or believes) that he is going to be a one-fight wonder…make the most out of that opportunity.
What if the UFC wants to treat him like any other prospect, as Dana White discussed?
In spite of the fact that Punk is not in amazing physical condition, has no serious athletic experience and has never competed in combat sports, he might not actually be the worst fighter in the UFC.
While that sounds ridiculous, have you guys actually watched some of the international editions of The Ultimate Fighter? Keep in mind, one of the TUF: China coaches was booted off the show for not actually having any idea how to fight. It isn’t just China, either, as some of the fighters we have seen on TUF: Latin America and TUF: Nations were comparably dreadful.
In an organization that brags about its athletes having (needing) full-time jobs during broadcasts (while still denying that there are troubles with fighter pay), anybody who can put all of their livelihood into the sport has a major advantage over the majority of mixed martial artists.
Punk has made millions in the WWE and can put as much effort into this MMA career as he pleases. Against opponents who spend 40 hours a week in a cubicle, that is a profound, undeniable advantage, even if he is later to the proverbial party.
The UFC has had some truly untalented fighters step into the cage this year, and Punk’s defeating them is undeniably possible.
There is no timetable for CM Punk’s MMA debut, and as such he is free to fight whenever he becomes comfortable. If he takes his time and waits until late in 2015, he will likely have put in more reps on the mats than anybody outside the UFC rankings.
That’s no small thing, and it might just be enough to let him silence his doubters.
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