With CM Punk’s UFC (oh, and MMA) debut just a week away, the UFC has been going above and beyond to push the former WWE wrestler to fans. The way they have done that, aside from forcing him into a bunch of unpaid press events and interviews? An episodic documentary series (or “docuseries” for all you new media children) called “Evolution of Punk” which follows his training, all the way back to the initial announcement that he was signing with the UFC.
While the show has been a fun treat, giving a window into the life of a retired super-popular pro wrestler with a self-destructive streak, the actual footage of him training has been bad. Really bad. Like really, really bad.
Punk has looked really bad in training in the docuseries chronicling his UFC debut. Screen grab by us.
From basic padwork to his weak ground game, Evolution of Punk has shown to the world that, yes, the five-time WWE world champion really was a blank slate when he put pen to paper with the UFC. Is he now, though? He says “nope”:
“It’s a correct depiction of where I was at when it was shot. That was pre-back surgery, walking around with a herniated disk, 15-percent power in my left leg. It’s like me watching one of Mickey’s fights and expecting to fight that guy. Mickey trains his ass off and he trains with a good team. He’s not going to be the same guy he was in his last fight just like I’m not going to be the same guy you saw on a television show.”
CM Punk took a whole lot of rough beating in the WWE before signing with the UFC. Photo by WWE.
There’s something to that with Punk. At 35 years old and with almost 20 years of pro wrestling under his belt when he signed, Punk entered the UFC a physical mess with no experience. He’s had several procedures since then, however, having his back and shoulder operated on. And of course, a lot of those videos were shot nearly two years ago. While it’s unclear how much worse those nagging injuries made him look, it probably had some impact and obviously, with a fair bit of training under his belt he has probably made at least some improvement.
Still, lots of people have been saying he’s going to get destroyed by Mickey Gall at UFC 203, and saying that he’s clearly going to embarrass himself along the way. For that, he said the following:
“I wouldn’t say it’s unfair, life is unfair. But you can’t listen to what somebody on the internet is saying about you, you know? If you dig hard enough, you will find negative stuff about everybody. I’m a positive guy and I know what I’m good at and I know what I am going to be good at. What I did a year and a half ago does not matter to me.
CM Punk will face Mickey Gall at UFC 203. Photo by Sherdog.
Either way, win or lose, the talk ends next week at UFC 203. Punk will face Gall and show whether he has made any serious progress in his training, or if he’s as bad as he seems.
Here’s hoping he puts on a good performance, though. Like him or hate him, it’s a crappy thing to wish ill upon him.
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