CM Punk Talks UFC Debut

CM Punk no doubt spent last night celebrating the Stanley Cup win by his hometown team the Chicago Blackhawks, but earlier on Monday he appeared on the Anik and Florian (that would UFC commentators Jon Anik and Kenny Florian) Podcast to talk about his training and upcoming UFC debut. And, if Punk's comments are any indicator, we might not be seeing him in the octagon any time soon. According to Punk,

I've had zero talks with Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta, Joe Silva, anybody, about an opponent, about a date. I'm thankful for that because there's zero pressure.

Beyond the lack of an opponent or date, he went on to say that;

There's people on Twitter saying, 'Oh, you're never gonna fight.' This was just announced in what, November, December? I've been training full time for like six months. As bad as I have the itch to get in there, I want to be as prepared as possible. I wouldn't be upset if it got pushed to 2016.

He also confirmed that coach Duke Rufous would prefer a later date as well, wanting to spend a full year training the former wrestling champion for his in-cage debut. Which makes plenty of sense - after all, Punk has zero professional fights - but it will also keep the fans waiting, and will no doubt stir up the "never going to happen" sentiment a little more. There's also the issue of injuries in training: thus far, Punk seems to have avoided anything serious, but with his 37th birthday coming up in October, Punk has an ever shortening window for an MMA career. Speaking of, Punk also confirmed that his UFC stint will not be a one-and-done deal, and that he intends to appear in the octagon more than once.

This isn't a one and done thing for me. I'm not looking to do this just once. Win, lose or draw, this is something I'm training for. I feel like it'd be a super waste of time if I was just training for one fight rather than making a career out of this. Getting beaten up at the gym every day wouldn't be worth it if I wasn't looking big picture.

I'm not saying I'm going to make a title run or anything. I'm looking to maximize my time here. If I wind up fighting in 2016 I'm not going to be upset about it.

So there you have it: don't expect to see CM Punk in the octagon this year, but expect to see him make the walk to the octagon at least a couple of times, barring any unforeseen circumstances.