Tag: Mickey Gall

CM Punk Officially Announces His UFC Debut

Former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star CM Punk signed with the UFC almost two-years-ago, and since then has yet to see any form of Octagon action. Now coming off of successful back surgery, Punk is all set to make his highly-anticipated mixed martial arts (MMA) debut, against UFC President Dana White’s Lookin For A Fight standout,

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Former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star CM Punk signed with the UFC almost two-years-ago, and since then has yet to see any form of Octagon action.

Now coming off of successful back surgery, Punk is all set to make his highly-anticipated mixed martial arts (MMA) debut, against UFC President Dana White’s Lookin For A Fight standout, Mickey Gall.

On the most recent episode of the UFC Unfiltered Podcast with Matt Serra and Jim Norton, Punk revealed he will finally see Octagon action against Gall at UFC 203 in Cleveland:

“I’ve been laying low media-wise, because I have nothing to say,” Punk said. “You can’t talk a bunch of s–t until you’ve been in there, and I haven’t been. The instant I got cleared, I got on the horn and nailed everything down, and I’ll be debuting September 10 in Cleveland.”

“I’m happy to have a date, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. You keep training and keep training until you hit a wall, and that was the point I was at. I found out I’ve been walking around with a herniated disk for probably years,” Punk said.

The UFC made it official on Twitter this morning:

Gall (2-0) is coming off a first round thrashing of Mike Jackson at UFC Fight Night 82 in February, when he stopped Jackson in just forty-five seconds via rear-naked choke.

UFC 203 takes place live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 10, 2016. The event is headlined by a heavyweight title bout between champion Stipe Miocic, who makes his first career title defense in his hometown, against No. 3-ranked Alistair Overeem.

 

The post CM Punk Officially Announces His UFC Debut appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Report: CM Punk vs. Mickey Gall Targeted For UFC 203 In September

It looks like CM Punk’s Octagon debut won’t be happening in late August after all.

After rumors indicated that the Punk vs. Mickey Gall fight would be finally taking place under the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz headlined event, UFC 202, on August 20…

Mickey Gall & CM Punk (UFC Fight Pass)

It looks like CM Punk’s Octagon debut won’t be happening in late August after all.

After rumors indicated that the Punk vs. Mickey Gall fight would be finally taking place under the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz headlined event, UFC 202, on August 20th, reports are now circulating that claim their fight has been pushed back a bit.

According to MMAFighting.com reporter Ariel Helwani, the Punk-Gall bout is now targeted for the UFC 203 pay-per-view event.

The UFC 203 pay-per-view is scheduled to take place on September 10, 2016 from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, and features a main event of Stipe Miocic vs. Alistair Overeem for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Rumor: CM Punk vs. Mickey Gall Possible For UFC 202 In August

It looks like CM Punk’s official Octagon debut won’t be far removed from the return of his fellow WWE counterpart Brock Lesnar, who makes his Octagon return at UFC 200 on July 9th.

According to Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newslett…

Mickey Gall & CM Punk (UFC Fight Pass)

It looks like CM Punk’s official Octagon debut won’t be far removed from the return of his fellow WWE counterpart Brock Lesnar, who makes his Octagon return at UFC 200 on July 9th.

According to Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and writer for MMAFighting.com, FOX Sports 1 has a multiple-part documentary on Punk’s UFC debut scheduled to air leading up to August, indicating that he could be part of the UFC card on August 20th.

As we reported previously, Mickey Gall, who was scheduled to be Punk’s opponent before Punk had to pull out of their originally scheduled bout to undergo surgery, noted via social media recently that he is still fighting Punk and that the fight will likely happen in the late summer.

UFC 202 on August 20th will feature Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 in the main event, as the two compete in an immediate 170-pound rematch of their first fight, which Diaz won via submission back in March.

CM Punk vs. Mickey Gall Reportedly Back On For “Late Summer”

It looks like plans for CM Punk’s Octagon debut are once again in the works.

Mickey Gall, who was originally scheduled to be Punk’s debut opponent in the UFC after earning the spot with a first-round finish of Mike Jackson on a UFC preliminary card,…

Mickey Gall & CM Punk (UFC Fight Pass)

It looks like plans for CM Punk’s Octagon debut are once again in the works.

Mickey Gall, who was originally scheduled to be Punk’s debut opponent in the UFC after earning the spot with a first-round finish of Mike Jackson on a UFC preliminary card, alluded to the fight being back on for “late summer” in a recent social media post.

“Some more light sparring,” Gall wrote in the caption on the video clip he posted on his official Instagram page (see below). “Gonna be more active on social media. Let me know what you guys wanna see. Love hearing from ya. [By the way] I hear I’m fighting [CM] Punk late summer. No official date yet. I’ll let u know when I know.”

Gall first hit the CM Punk-radar by challenging the former WWE Superstar in front of UFC President Dana White after his professional MMA debut victory, which was filmed for White’s “Lookin’ For A Fight” reality show.

The attention from the episode of White’s reality show led to the aforementioned preliminary fight with Jackson, with the stipulation being a win for Gall would guarantee him the spot as Punk’s debut opponent inside the Octagon.

As Gall mentioned, no date has been specified as of yet, however it’s worth noting that UFC is scheduled to head to Punk’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois for their UFC On FOX 20 event, which emanates from the United Center and airs live on “big FOX,” on Saturday, July 23rd.

Mike Jackson Released From The UFC

To the surprise of no one, Mike Jackson has been released from the UFC.

Jackson, a MMA journalist who competes in MMA and boxing, among other competitive events, was brought in to the UFC under a unique set of circumstances.

After signing former …

mike-jackson-ufc

To the surprise of no one, Mike Jackson has been released from the UFC.

Jackson, a MMA journalist who competes in MMA and boxing, among other competitive events, was brought in to the UFC under a unique set of circumstances.

After signing former WWE Superstar CM Punk, UFC had the issue of figuring out who to select as the opponent for a former pro wrestler who has never competed in MMA and has no significant competitive background to speak of in martial arts.

As a result, UFC brought in MMA prospect Mickey Gall, who impressively won his MMA debut and then called out Punk while Dana White was in attendance filming for his “Dana White: Lookin’ For A Fight” reality show. UFC then signed Gall and brought in Jackson to be his opponent in a UFC preliminary fight, where Gall would officially become Punk’s first UFC opponent if he got past Jackson.

The Gall-Jackson fight saw Gall floor Jackson and choke him out quickly in the first round, setting up the Gall-Punk fight, which has yet to happen due to Punk undergoing surgery.

Mike Jackson, who was officially released by the UFC this week, told MMAFighting.com the following:

“I was released few weeks ago. I wish they would have done it sooner, or gave me the Artem [Lobov] fight. But I’m getting back to boxing next month.”

Joe Rogan: “It’s Ridiculous For CM Punk To Fight In UFC, I Don’t Understand This Whole Thing”

https://youtu.be/oq2x8SC9RGo

After what has felt like an eternity of promotion without anything to really promote, UFC was dealt the unfortunate blow of finally pulling the trigger in terms of beginning the process of determining the opponent and ev…

cm-punk

https://youtu.be/oq2x8SC9RGo

After what has felt like an eternity of promotion without anything to really promote, UFC was dealt the unfortunate blow of finally pulling the trigger in terms of beginning the process of determining the opponent and event for CM Punk’s Octagon debut only for the former WWE Superstar to suffer yet another injury-related setback. For Joe Rogan, it appears to be the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back as it pertains to the whole “CM Punk experiment.”

The longtime UFC announcer gave his candid thoughts on the situation during the most recent episode of his “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, focusing primarily on the fact that Punk is making his MMA fighting debut on the biggest and most respected stage in the industry with no real martial arts background to warrant such an opportunity.

Rogan offered the following unfiltered opinion regarding Punk skipping the normal process of earning a spot on the UFC roster, which traditionally includes a lifetime of dedicated martial arts training combined with the difficult task of ascending through the ranks by fighting on lower-level MMA events.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen with that guy,” said a brutally honest Joe Rogan, who in addition to being an accomplished comedian and actor, is a lifelong martial artist with a particularly respectable past in Tae Kwon Do. “I don’t understand this whole thing. I also think it’s ridiculous for him to fight in the UFC. I think he should fight in a small organization. Take a fight in a small organization, build yourself up. I have always said that’s what should have happened with Brock Lesnar.”

Punk was finally set to fight an officially announced opponent, as Mickey Gall worked his way into the spot by catching the eye of Dana White on the UFC President’s new “Dana White: Lookin’ For A Fight” reality show. The clever initiative taken by the MMA prospect resulted in him signing with the premiere MMA promotion in North America after only one professional MMA fight, which led to an even more impressive first fight inside the Octagon.

Gall defeated MMA journalist and journeyman fighter Mike Jackson in a preliminary fight set up by White with the guaranteed first shot against Punk on-the-line. Gall needed just 45 seconds to knock down and choke out Jackson, before taking part in a post-match stare down with Punk inside the cage.

Unfortunately for those who were actually eagerly anticipating the fight for the past year-plus — a group that continues to get smaller as time goes by — the Punk-Gall fight rumored for UFC 199 appears to be off for the time being, at least in terms of the June date of the final pay-per-view show ahead of the landmark UFC 200 event scheduled for July 9th.

You can check out the latest edition of the aforementioned “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, which also features an in-studio interview with UFC Hall Of Famer Bas Rutten, via the YouTube player embedded above.