It was an incredible announcement that sent shock waves through the world of both WWE and UFC, but when CM Punk announced that he would “see you in the Octagon in 2015” the thought was that he would actually be seen in The Octagon that year.
Instead it is now 2016 and CM Punk is no closer to setting a date to face Mickey Gall in his first ever UFC match than he was when he made that announcement in 2014.
There were reports late last year that Punk wasn’t fairing too well in his first few fights and that he had actually managed to lose all 16 of his training bouts which led to fans believing that the transition from WWE to UFC was obviously much harder than first believed.
Punk is obviously at the peak of physical fitness and he should have made the transition as easily as the likes of Brock Lesnar, Batista and Bobby Lashley, but instead he seems to be having a big problem making the switch.
The latest reports from The Wrestling Observer Newsletter suggest that Punk is not progressing well in training after he has made his return following back surgery. He has been a part of many live sparring sessions but he is not doing very well in them and many feel that if he was to face Mickey Gall right now then it would be an easy win for the trained UFC star.
The thought amongst many people surrounding the whole CM Punk saga is that the former WWE Champion was only signed to the company by Dana White because of the media attention that his name brought to the sport. Punk was a part of one of the most controversial WWE departures in the history of the company when he walked out following the 2014 Royal Rumble.
The truth surrounding Punk, his health and the reasons he left the company were not fully revealed until he was on Colt Cabana’s podcast at the end of 2014. It was then made obvious that Punk had many problems with the company and the way they treated their talent and their was no chance that he would be making a return.
It wasn’t revealed until then that Punk was actually fired from the company on his wedding day to former Divas Champion AJ Lee. AJ left the company following WrestleMania 31 and it is still unknown how much of an impact her husband had on her decision to leave the company.
AJ was the victim of many CM Punk chants following her marriage to the former world champion and there was said to have been a lot of backstage heat on her because of her husband but AJ herself is yet to reveal the full extent of this, but she may well do in her literary memoir when it is released next year.
The whole CM Punk saga has gripped both WWE and UFC over the past two years and it was hoped that CM Punk would make the switch and be successful in another career especially since he already had a background in martial arts, but this doesn’t seem to be the case and the decision to make the switch could come back to haunt him.
Punk was full of confidence when he made the announcement but after recent injuries and back surgery it seems that his debut is continually being pushed back and it is now almost 6 months after the fight was first supposed to happen.
Dave Meltzer has suggested that if more time passes before the match is actually announced then it could say everything that needs to be said about the situation which reading between the lines says that perhaps Punk is aware that his debut could be a suicide mission.
Punk continues to train ahead of his debut for UFC but he is not progressing well and he is not fairing as well as many were hoping he would have done. Whether or not Punk decides that this the switch was a bad idea and leaves without a fight or if he continues to train before his debut fight is revealed still remains to be seen, but these recent reports are not great reading for many CM Punk fans.
