CM Punk Training With Former UFC, Strikeforce Champs

While CM Punk has been training at team Rufousport since early this year alongside the likes of former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and current ONE FC champion Ben Askren, a new press release touts him as one of the first UFC athletes to train at the EXOS facility in Phoenix, Arizona - alongside former UFC light heavyweight champion "Sugar" Rashad Evans and former Strikeforce middleweight champion/current UFC middleweight contender Luke Rockhold. In a UFC press release, the promotion notes that Punk spent a week training in Arizona "learning innovative ways to train, plan and prepare for competition." This comes as part of the UFC's newly announced Athlete Marketing and Development Program, which is conjunction with the USDA, Fusionetics, and EXOS. EXOS bills itself as "the leaders in training, nutrition and physical therapy for elite athletes," and Punk's inclusion alongside some of the biggest names in the sport, without having set foot in the octagon, is once again a testimony to his popularity and potential impact from a ratings and revenue perspective. Prior to the announcement, Punk posted the above photo to his twitter, adding "We knocked this wall down after this pic was taken." Punk's MMA debut is likely to come in either late 2015 or early 2016. However, the UFC is taking full advantage of having signed him to their roster, as photo ops like this demonstrate. In the meantime, he has an upcoming run of comics with Marvel featuring the Guardians of the Galaxy's Drax (portrayed on-screen by fellow WWE alum Batista).