CM Punk Signs With UFC: Breaking Updates On Punk’s UFC Deal And When He Signed

As the Inquisitr recently reported, former WWE Superstar CM Punk announced Saturday night at UFC 181 that he has signed with MMA promotion, Ultimate Fighting Championship, better known as the UFC. It has been rumored for quite some time, but no one knew if Punk would ever end up doing so. Now there are breaking updates regarding Punk’s deal, and when he spoke with UFC President, Dana White.

We know CM Punk has signed with UFC, however, what division he will fight for? The rumored idea was Welterweight, Middleweight, or Light Heavyweight. Punk ruled out Light Heavyweight when he spoke with Joe Rogan on Saturday, and told the world he’d end up doing a weight test to see what division would fit him best. We’ll most likely see a totally different look for CM Punk. Most expect a Middleweight role, but he could surprise us with a division down.

UFC posted a Vine with CM Punk that showed Punk saying he’d see the fans sometime in 2015. We could know his future opponent at the UFC December 17th press conference, which would give us a date on when we’ll see Punk fight as well.

As the Inquisitr reported this week, rumors were out regarding CM Punk and his MMA affiliation. Both UFC and Bellator had major interest, but UFC seemed to be the place Punk wanted go all along. There were rumors that he already spoke with White, and that Dana’s coy remarks to TMZ could have either been staged for hype or potentially coincidental. Despite White saying he’d talk with Punk if he was ever interested in coming into MMA, he and CM Punk had been talking for months now.

In fact, the deal was in the works already. A deal was said to have been reached between the two in late October. It simply was not official until Saturday, when he met with White at UFC 181 in Las Vegas. Punk could have been faxed the contract or something similar, but clearly if CM Punk could be on the UFC 181 event, why not have him show up, sign a deal, and then come on the show later that night? That is just what the Second City Saint did last night.

Regarding Punk’s signing, White claims, “He’s been coming to fights for a long time and after his WWE contract was up, he called me and said he wanted to give it a shot. I said, ‘All right. We’ll give you a shot.'”

Punk admitted that it was now and never for him. He felt that it would be good to come in way back in 2011, but he chose to re-sign with WWE at the time. Now that he has left the WWE, almost one year later, he is giving MMA a try. Many CM Punk fans are excited to see what can happen for the former WWE Champion in the UFC.

Former and current WWE stars weighed in on CM Punk giving MMA a try.

“So Punk whined when @Ryback22 was too stiff in the ring…can’t wait to see him in UFC.#FuelingTheFire”

— Gabe Tuft (@GabeTuft) December 7, 2014

“Congrats on @CMPunk signing apparently w/ @ufc is he going to fight? What weight? Will sell PPV’s w/o question. Smart biz by @danawhite”

— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) December 7, 2014

Rey Mysterio said on his Instagram account, “Awesome to see my homie Punk at UFC 181 announcing his new career as a UFC fighter! Congrats & wish him the best… Kick some ASS homie! #ItWasAPleasureBeingInTheRingWithU#LifeChanger#CantWaite2SeeUKickAss”

CM Punk has not just signed with UFC for one fight. In fact, it is a multi-year, multi-fight deal. That means we won’t see “The Best in the World” only once. It appears that UFC veteran Michael Bisping wants to be CM Punk’s first fight in the octagon.

He wrote on Twitter, “I see @cmpunk wants to kick ass, well he can kiss my ass! Welcome to the Ufc, let’s do this!@ufc @danawhite”

Bisping is currently a Middleweight, which means if Punk decides to go this route, Michael would be an obvious choice for him to face. Talk about an explosive debut in UFC. Punk would face off with a guy who has a lot of respect in the fight world. Michael also knows how to sell a PPV, just like Punk. So the talking will be fun leading up to the event. Punk has worked in the wrestling business in some capacity for nearly 20 years. He knows how to do a promo and how to entertain. However, we don’t know if he can really fight yet.

White may not want to put him against top guys just yet, instead, he wants Punk to start slow. The UFC President said, “He wanted to fight here. He wanted to give it a shot, so we gave him an opportunity. It’s not like Brock Lesnar. We’re not going to throw the kitchen sink at him. Lesnar had a wrestling background. (CM Punk) going to fight a guy who is 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 — something like that.”

Punk disagrees with this thought, however. He doesn’t want to cherry pick his opponents. In other words, he doesn’t want to face the bottom of UFC. He wants to face the best. Sadly, despite Punk’s age, White doesn’t want to rush Punk’s MMA career. He’d rather start him slowly. There was a huge difference with Brock Lesnar. Lesnar was an NCAA Heavyweight Championship wrestler in college. Punk is an athlete, but he didn’t have the credentials and freak athletic ability Lesnar had in his time with UFC.

Yes, we know CM Punk has a background in various martial arts, including Kempo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. However, that training he once did off and on will be his day job. So it will be interesting to see how Punk can adjust. While he does have a pro-wrestling background, that does not mean he can wrestle on the mat as well as former NCAA Champions or Olympic team members.

It appears that Phil Brooks will be calling himself CM Punk in UFC as well. He does own the name after all. Why not, right?

[IMG Credits: MMAFighting.com, Reddit.com, telediario.mx]