MUST-READ RECAP – CM PUNK SIGNS MULTI-FIGHT UFC DEAL

News
Dec 7, 2014

Here are all of our updates from last night and today put together inside one post for you guys. We will continue to update this post as more information is released.

UPDATE x 19: Some photos of CM Punk together with his wife AJ Lee at last night’s UFC 181 event were tweeted out online. You can check out the pictures below.

UPDATE x 18: CM Punk will have no shortage of potential opponents to choose from. In addition to Michael Bisping calling out Punk on Twitter following his UFC signing, the former WWE star has found himself called out by Derek Brunson and Cathal Pendred. The two posted the following to their Twitter accounts:

I want @CMPunk next #UFC

Of course, neither of these guys are particularly likely to face Punk. Pendral is 2-0 in his UFC career (and 15-2-1 overall) while Brunson is 12-3 (3-1 in the UFC). Dana White has already said that Punk will not be facing people above his level right away and is “going to fight a guy who is 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 — something like that.”

UPDATE x 17: UFC President Dana White appeared on the post-fight show for UFC 181. He discussed the event, the UFC’s announcement that CM Punk has signed to fight for them, Anthony Pettis’ performance, and more. Below are some highlights and a clip of the FOX Sports 1 segment.

White on who he thought won the main event: “I’m done scoring fights. I started talking to a lot of the fighters here on who won and they were all split. Joe Silva said you can’t win a fight with your head between someone’s legs for three rounds.”

White on if Hendricks could have done more to win: “I tell these guys all the time – don’t leave it in the hands of the judges. I thought Johny looked good standing up, but he kept trying to take him down and waste time.”

White on a trilogy fight with Hendricks and Lawler being possible: “Rory Macdonald actually thought Lawler won the fight. We said he’d get the next shot at the title, but the trilogy wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

White on Anthony Pettis winning: “This kid is amazing, if he can stay healthy. He’s the best pound for pound fighter in the world. The reason I said that, he can do things others can’t. Gilbert has never been finished. He has won three titles in three other organizations. People don’t understand what a big deal it is him submitting Melendez. Anthony Pettis is amazing.”

White on UFC signing CM Punk: “He comes to all the fights and he’s a huge fan of the sport. He called me and said he wanted to fight. He wants to try it. He’s a huge superstar. I’ll give him a shot.”

White on CM Punk never having fought MMA and having a pro wrestling background: “I agree with every one of those things. I’m skeptical. But you don’t know unless he tries. He said he wants to fight, will you give me a shot? I said I will. He wants to start training with the right camp. It might be six or seven months.”

UPDATE x 16: WWE.com has posted a brief comment on CM Punk’s signing with the UFC. The news article simply reads:

WWE wishes Phil Brooks (aka CM Punk) the best of luck in his newest endeavor.

The post is titled “WWE wishes Phil Brooks ‘best of luck'” with “best of luck” in quotes.

UPDATE x 15: There is said to be of interest from MMA companies in signing former WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio (Alberto Rodriguez). Following up on the blockbuster news that CM Punk has signed a multi-fight deal to compete in UFC, According to sources, CM Punk jumping to the world of Mixed Martial arts is just the beginning.

Last month, Bellator MMA proved once again that MMA is a star-driven business, with the Tito Ortiz vs. Stephan Bonnar fight on Spike TV being called a “game changer” for the entire industry. That show did record ratings on Spike up against the UFC pay-per-view from Mexico City.

One source recently stated that “you will not believe some of the stuff that is going to happen in the next couple of weeks, if certain negotiations go through.”

Del Rio trained with MMA fighter Marco Ruas and fought for the MMA Promotion “Deep” in the early 2000s. He would go on to sign with with Pride Fighting Championships in 2003, earning himself a 14-9 MMA record, with 2 of the wins by knockout and 7 by way of submission submission.

If Del signs with Bellator or UFC, that would mark the third former WWE Champion to sign with a major MMA company (plus, Bobby Lashley fighting for Bellator).

Del Rio’s recently contractual settlement with WWE is similar to CM Punk’s situation, in the sense that WWE tried to include a no-compete clause that would have prevented him from jumping to MMA (or TNA).

FOX Sports writer Damon Martin noted on Twitter that Rodriguez is itching to fight.

Del Rio was in Mexico last night. Prior to UFC 181 going live on pay-per-view, he was asking fans on twitter to help him find a way to watch the show in Guadalajara.

UPDATE x 14: A source very close to the situation says the UFC is targeting their July 2015 PPV for CM Punk’s debut.

The idea is to have them leverage Punk’s name value for a big show for the company and the July PPV includes a UFC Fan Expo during the weekend before it.

As Punk noted in an interview with Ariel Helwani (see below), he expects to be ready to fight in “about six months” and will make his debut on a pay-per-view event.

UPDATE x 13: Ariel Helwani of FOX Sports interviewed CM Punk after UFC 181 about his UFC signing. You can check it out below. Punk told Helwani that the actual deal was signed around a week ago when Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta came to Chicago to talk about his signing. He said that he’s looking at probably fighting at middleweight but is “open to other things,” i.e. a potential welterweight cut.

He also addressed the criticism that he is a pro wrestler and doesn’t deserve a UFC spot, saying, “At the ripe old age of 36 I’m trying to be less of a hot head, and see where people are coming from. And I understand – if that’s your opinion, that’s awesome; it’s my job to change your mind, although that is not going to be one of my hang-ups. I’m not going to deal with negativity. Plus, I think it’s part of the game. There needs to be fighters that call me out and say those things, I just hope somebody is more creative because the ‘fake wrestler’ thing is a little too obvious.”

UPDATE x 12: More reactions from the UFC’s signing of CM Punk have hit the internet. Both Punk’s wife, WWE Diva AJ Lee, and Jon Jones have commented on the announcement via Twitter:

UPDATE x 11: CM Punk appeared at the UFC 181 post-show and confirmed that his WWE deal was settled on October 22nd and that his deal with UFC had been in the works for awhile.

It was also confirmed that Punk was supposed to be UFC’s major announcement at the “The Time Is Now” press conference last month, but UFC ended up holding off on it due to Punk’s deal not being finalized yet.

Punk also said he is staying “the f*ck off Twitter for now” to avoid negativity, but that by the end of his UFC run, everyone will respect him.

UPDATE x 10: Jim Ross has tweeted out his thoughts on CM Punk signing with UFC.

UPDATE x 9: UFC fighters Ronda Rousey and Nate Diaz reacted on Twitter to UFC’s signing of CM Punk, which was announced on Saturday night at UFC 181.

UPDATE x 8: Dana White spoke with ESPN about CM Punk signing with UFC.

“He wanted to fight here,” White said. “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.”

White noted that it will take time for Punk to make his debut, perhaps six to seven months.

“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.’ “

CM Punk also appeared on FOX Sports 1 and discussed his new UFC deal. Punk said the deal was finalized on October 22nd, which is when he was completely free from WWE. Punk said the deal has been in the works for awhile now and was supposed to the “major announcement” for last month’s big press conference but it wasn’t completed in time.

Punk noted that he’s staying off social media for now as he doesn’t want to hear all the negative comments from fans.

Punk noted that he doesn’t want to “cherry pick” his upcoming fights or training partners …. aka he doesn’t want to be fed “jobbers”.

UPDATE x 7: As you know by now, UFC announced the signing of Phil “CM Punk” Brooks to a multi-fight deal Saturday at UFC 181. Punk, 36, is expected to debut in 2015.

“This is something that’s been in the back of my mind for a very, very long time,” Punk told UFC’s Joe Rogan. He noted he had trained in both Kenpo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

“The idea of being able to step inside the Octagon and find out what’s inside myself and test myself is an opportunity that I was not able to deny myself,” he continued. “I don’t think I would be able to live with myself if I didn’t give this a shot.”

Punk has yet to decide whether he will compete at middleweight or welterweight. In order to keep his signing a secret, he neglected to find a training camp to align with.

Punk became a free agent following an October settlement with WWE, where he was a multi-time world champion, and garnered interest from both UFC and Bellator MMA. UFC has a long history of pro wrestlers competing in its cage, including Brock Lesnar, Ken Shamrock, and Dan Severn. Among those, Punk is notable for his lack of background in athletic competition prior to joining the UFC.

UPDATE x 7: Paul Heyman, Gabe “Tyler Reks” Tuft, Jim Ross and others tweeted the following regarding CM Punk signing a multi-fight deal with the UFC:

Rey Mysterio also wrote the following 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”

UPDATE x 6: Here is a video of CM Punk’s signing announcement at the UFC 181 pay-per-view event:

UPDATE x 5: UFC middleweight fighter Michael Bisping has already called out CM Punk, as he tweeted the following:

UPDATE x 4: Dana White White and CM Punk have been talking for several months now despite Dana White saying he’d be meeting with Punk over the weekend. The deal has been in the works for awhile now and was officially signed prior to UFC 181. The two met backstage at the show and everything was finalized.

UPDATE x 3: UFC posted a video on Vine featuring CM Punk telling the fans at UFC 181 that he’ll be “seeing them in the Octagon at some point in 2015”.

UPDATE x 2: UFC President Dana White tweeted the following regarding former WWE Superstar CM Punk signing a multi-fight deal with the UFC:

UPDATE: As noted earlier, CM Punk told UFC announcer Joe Rogan at the UFC 181 pay-per-view that he had signed a multi-year deal with the UFC. Punk said:

“I have a limited window like all fighters do, and I’m here for a fight. This is my new career 100%.”

As noted earlier, Punk noted that he’d most likely be fighting at middleweight or welterweight but will NOT fight at light heavyweight.

ORIGINAL: Throughout the entire first fight on the UFC 181 pay-per-view, UFC play-by-play announcer Mike Goldberg teased a “major announcement from Joe Rogan that you do NOT want to miss.”

When the first fight was over, we shot live to cage-side where Rogan was with — “The Best in the World.”

That’s right, folks. CM Punk was with Rogan and the announcement was that Punk has signed with the UFC. He has signed a multi-fight contract and will be debuting in the near future. CM Punk said his debut would be at some point in 2015 and it was “all systems go” after it had been officially announced tonight.

It was mentioned that Punk might be fighting in the UFC’s Middleweight (185 pounds) division.

BREAKING UPDATE: How Much Is The UFC Paying CM Punk?, THE SHOCKING $$$$$ #’s REVEALED (>>)!!! !

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