When the arena lights dimmed in the Quicken Loans Arena, and “Cult of Personality” rang over the loud speaker. The camera cut to a confident looking CM Punk, who sported a very condescending smirk on his face. A smirk that dare I say, was very reminiscent of a professional wrestler, and not a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter.
During his long walk to the octagon, It quickly became evident that CM Punk was completely oblivious to what the near future would hold for him. There wasn’t a trace of octagon jitters or nerves to be found. Punk appeared to be approaching the cage with the same swagger that you would often see in the scripted world of the WWE. Mentally, Punk looked well and truly up to the task, which left UFC Commentator Joe Rogan visibly “confused”. Unfortunately for Punk, he would soon find out that the octagon is a very different world to that of the sports entertainment industry.
CM Punk finally entered the cage, then proceeded to have a very bizarre fighter introduction. Which featured Punk awkwardly bouncing toward Bruce Buffer for a fist bump. The fighter announcements had commenced, and Punks moment had finally arrived. There were no more games and no more gimmicks, it was just him and his opponent staring face to face waiting for the referee to give them clearance to begin.
The bell rings. Punk casually strolled forward, advancing to the centre of the cage in similar fashion to his fighter introduction. But this time he was not met with a cheery Bruce Buffer, he was met by a trained killer and legitimate BJJ Brown Belt in Mickey Gall. Gall immediately changed levels and successfully shot for a strong double leg takedown. Only seconds into his debut, Punk was put on his back.
The moment CM Punk was taken to the ground, the audience immediately got a sense that something very bad was about to happen. What followed this takedown was not just domination, but one of the worst mis matches that you will ever see in a Mixed Martial Arts contest.
Mickey Gall immediately opened up with huge ground and pound elbows which appeared to seriously rock CM Punk, and eventually lead to the formation of his first legitimate case of cauliflower ear. In attempting to roll and buck his opponent off hm, Punk appeared to resemble the human equivalent of a Gazelle trying to escape the strong clench of a Lions jaw. Mickey Gall was essentially feasting on his prey.
2 minutes and 14 seconds of ground domination had passed, and CM Punk was forced to tap as a result of a Rear Naked Choke. Bruce Buffer thereby declaring Mickey Gall the winner via submission. It was a very disappointing, but foreseeable result for many CM Punk fans and MMA purists.
CM Punk had become a victim of his own ego and delusion. In trying to prove a point to himself and the world on the largest stage the sport has to offer, Punk ignored the reality that was his very limited MMA skill set. One could have made the argument that Punk was “trying to beat the fight game”.
In the week prior to UFC 203, we learnt that under the Ohio Athletic Commission’s current governing rules, a fighter is usually required to have had a minimum of 5 amateur MMA bouts in order to be granted a license to fight professionally in the state. CM Punk as we all know, did not meet this criteria. However, this did not stop the Ohio Athletic Commission from granting Punk a license to compete.
In attempting to justify the licensing of CM Punk. Bernie Profato, Executive Director of the Ohio Athletic Commison told MMA Fighting that “a wrestling background similar to Brock Lesnar being permitted to fight in the past” was the reasoning behind Punk being issued a license to fight.
Somehow, Punks previous experience in the WWE and professional wrestling had allowed him to become a fully licensed professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter. The UFC seemed to have found a loophole in the system, which allowed CM Punk to make his professional MMA debut despite having never taken part in a amateur fight in his life.
To many Mixed Martial Arts purists, the reasoning behind the Ohio Athletic Commissions licensing of CM Punk simply did not make any sense. To me, it felt like the fight equivalent of playing pickup basketball with your colleagues, then being granted a license to compete for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA.
The UFC debut of Phill “CM Punk” Brooks will forever be etched into the UFC’s history. But not as a a positive meeting of Pro Wrestling and Martial Arts, but more as an unfortunate circus act and a dark day in the UFC’s history. An unfortunate circus act that in my opinion, could have been avoided.
