10 Things I Hate About CM Punk
7. He's Starting To Bullsh*t Us
Punk knows very well that announcing his intention to complete in UFC in December 2014 set the Sword Of Damocles over his head. To his credit, he says that wasn't what he would have chosen and that he feels it was a mistake for Dana White and the Fertitta brothers to set out his stall before hed even properly begun training.
Nonetheless, at the time of the announcement he was asked, not without justification, whether nearly twenty years of wrestling had left him physically capable of taking part in a professional fight on the UFCs level, never mind whether his skill level would match up. Punk told the world that the year away from wrestling had restored his mind and body, and that he was feeling great.
Now that two separate injuries have set him back months, those claims that he wasnt suffering at all from his brutal years on the grind in pro wrestling are looking more and more like bullsh*t.
Even if we discount the shoulder injury, hes now admitted that the back problem that hes recently had surgery to correct has plagued him for years, and stems entirely from his pro wrestling days. Hed been managing the pain with massage, chiropracty - even acupuncture until his MMA training exacerbated the issue.
Worse, he received the diagnosis confirming hed need surgery the same day that he walked out to see Mickey Gall beat Mike Jackson to become his first UFC opponent. When he shook Galls hand and introduced himself for the benefit of the cameras, he did so knowing that the fight everyone was expecting had just been put back months, and might not even take place at all if the operation didnt go well.
If he was still a pro wrestler he could make the excuse that he was working everyone, but he's deliberately set himself as far apart from that life as possible. Punk made his name on a kind of careless, brutal honesty: that strong ethical streak is part of what endeared him to a lot of us. Its a little sad to see him set that aside for the benefit of Zuffas hype machine.