UFC Using New Show To Find Opponent For CM PUnk?

The CM Punk journey to the UFC continues to chug along, and while there has been relatively little news about the fighter of late, an interesting tidbit has come out from none other than UFC President Dana White himself in regards to Punk's potential first opponent: White may be using the new show "Looking for a Fight" to scout CM Punk's dance partner. He told TSN's Michael Landsberg;

I just started a new show. The pilot is on YouTube. It's called, 'Dana White: Looking for a fight.' I'm actually out looking for opponents for CM Punk right now.

Before you scoff at the idea, it actually makes a fair amount of sense. Despite the likes of former title challenger Chael Sonnen and UFC bigwig Lorenzo Fertitta saying Punk would face a known name, the safer path for their investment would generally be a fighter with little to no fight experience, like Punk himself. Dana White alluded to that earlier this year when he contradicted Fertitta and suggested Punk would fight a guy who is 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 - something in that range. As for the show - Looking for a Fight is actually where the UFC came across their newest star, Sage Northcutt, the teenager who dazzled in his first UFC fight, and looks set to be a big part of their future. Northcutt is already being compared to another young star, Paige VanZant, in terms of his marketability, and the young fighter was recently invited to train at TriStar in Montreal, alongside the likes of Rory MacDonald and Georges St. Pierre. Clearly Punk won't be fighting someone at that level (Northcutt was 5-0 before joining the UFC), but using the show as a vehicle to find Punk's opponent makes obvious financial sense, as the former WWE champion brings built-in-eyeballs in terms of viewers along with him, and it's well-known that the UFC wants to utilize his high profile. While there's still no date set for his debut, UFC 200 remains a possibility; barring that, mid to late Summer 2016 sounds right. If you're curious to see who he might be fighting, meanwhile, it seems Looking for a Fight might be your thing.