Does CM Punk Have a Chance to Win in his MMA Debut?

By JM “Shade” Daguio

On December 6, 2014 at UFC 181, Phil Brooks AKA CM Punk announced that he signed a multi-fight contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The UFC brass at that time has yet to name Brooks’ opponent and they emphasized that they need to bring someone who is also a relative newcomer in MMA given Brooks’ 0-0 record and that it will be his debut in MMA.

Fans from far and wide were unanimous in expressing that Brooks has no business fighting in the UFC and that he should follow the path of former pro-wrestler-turned-MMA fighters where they fought in small shows to get their experience. Brooks though, went straight to the UFC to get his “challenge”.

Unlike Brooks’ fellow pro-wrestler-turned-MMA-fighters such as Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley and Dave “Batista” Bautista Jr., Brooks have zero MMA background and has not competed in any of the component martial arts in the amateur level, however Brooks’ claimed that he had been training jiujitsu as a white belt under the Rener Gracie, it has not been reported whether or not he was promoted to a higher belt rank.

The UFC had been searching for Brooks’ potential opponent for a months until the day finally arrived. In an episode of ‘Dana White’s Looking for a fight’ -a show where the UFC president along with his friends Nick “The Tooth” and former welterweight champion Matt Serra scout the United States for the next big thing- Mickey Gall impressed the UFC scouts.

Gall was a very confident fighter with great skills and he wasn’t shy to show it in his UFC debut. The UFC finally decided that this is the guy that will challenge Phil Brooks (CM Punk).

But what are Brooks’ chances of winning? Gall’s recored is 2-0 both stoppages via submissions which shows his acumen in grappling, Brooks has no portfolio of such to prove that he can actually win.

Since there are no fights that we can refer to with regards to Brooks’ skills we can always go to what he’s actually doing.

As of the moment Brooks is training in Milwaukee, Wisconsin under the tutelage of Duke Roufus at Roufusport. Roufus is the striking master that was behind former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis’ and One Fighting Championship welterweight champion Ben Askren’s success. Roufus is known to be very tough in sparring which indicates that Brooks will not be getting any free pass on his training, he has to go through what real fighters go through, his training pedigree alone will definitely boost his chances in essentially upsetting the younger yet more experienced fighter in Gall.

Gall will definitely be the favorite (at least in my humble opinion). Gall is younger, faster, has more experience and the hungrier of the two, those attributes from a young fighter should be feared.
However, Punk with his experience in physical punishment, size and training pedigree, still has the opportunity to turn the tides in an exciting match. If the rumors are true that he has since been well-acclimated with the elite fighters in his gym at Milwaukee, it would not matter if Mickey Gall has all the advantages.

Phil Brooks AKA CM Punk will fight Mickey Gall at UFC 203 in Cleveland, Ohio on Sept. 10, 2016.

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