CM Punk announced that he had signed with UFC in December of 2014 and fans have been waiting for him to step into the octagon for quite some time now. Earlier this year Dana White confirmed that CM Punk would indeed be fighting in 2016 and now the date for his first UFC fight has officially been announced.
CM Punk will be taking on Mickey Gall on September 10th at UFC 203 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. Punk appeared on the UFC Unfiltered podcast where he broke the news and he said that after all the time he’s put in to his training he’s happy to finally have a date for the fight.
Earlier this year CM Punk experienced a setback when he had to undergo back surgery to correct some lingering injuries. Punk says that as soon as he found out he was cleared he made a move.
“The instant I got cleared I got on the horn with Dana (White) and we nailed everything out so I will be debuting September 10 in Cleveland,” Punk said via Fox Sports. “I’m super excited. For obviously a myriad of reasons. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
BREAKING: @CMPunk announces on #UFCUnfiltered he'll debut vs @MickeyGall at #UFC203!!!! ➡️ https://t.co/kQZBxHzDcK pic.twitter.com/3jDGUruLVO
— UFC (@ufc) June 23, 2016
As far as his opponent Mickey Gall goes, CM Punk says he thinks he’s a tough kid and although their reach and height is similar, Punk admitted that Gall has him beat in the experience department.
“I think he’s a tough kid, but also his fights have been pretty short so you don’t really get to see all of his skills. I kind of look at not so much the guy, but who they train with and he trains at a great camp in New Jersey, the Miller brothers. I’ve got nothing but respect for those guys.”
UFC 203 is also set to feature a heavyweight title bout featuring champion Stipe Miocic defending against Alistair Overeem. Former heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum will also be facing off against Ben Rothwell in the co-main event.
