DISCUSSION: Should the UFC cut CM Punk?

[Deleted]

Curious on what you feel the UFC should do with CM Punk - any and all responses are welcome below.

[Hacksaw Jim Powers]

This may be the most clear-cut case for a Celebrities Wing of the UFC.

There may still be some curiosity left for people to pay to see this guy fight, but it is certainly a smaller number than the group that shelled out $50-60 to see Punk/Gall.

I think the UFC could get away with one more fight against a fighter below the caliber of Gall, opening fight of another relatively weak PPV card to maximize what's left of his star power, and if Punk fails to win again, that's it.

[Milky]

I agree with Hacksaw.

I'm not a big MMA fan but I think Punk should fight at least once more. I think it will be diminishing returns but there's still enough star power there for a second crack at it. He should not be a headliner though. Just a complimentary act.

If he loses in similar fashion, though, then yeah I think it's goodbye.

Also, on a side note, I had no idea that CM Punk was fighting the night he did. Luckily I had an MMA friend who clued me in a few hours beforehand, but I for one have to disagree that CM Punk's fight was well promoted. At least for a non-MMA fan I can say it wasn't. Also, none of my pro-wrestling friends knew he was fighting either. So there's more the UFC could do to promote his second fight IMO. Give him a redemption storyline and try to cater more to the pro-wrestling audience this time, not just the pro-wrestling audience who also watch UFC.

[TariQ]

Looking back, the UFC signed CM Punk near the end of 2014 which was considered a difficult year for UFC. But while waiting for CM Punk to train, recover from injuries and surgeries, the UFC has done greater numbers than ever before in 2015 and 2016. I don't think there is much interest left to see him lose again because he lost in fantastic fashion to someone who is also not in the UFC Welterweight rankings. The time it took to finally get to the fight kind of also caused some of the steam to die out. I don't think he's that big of a MMA draw that the UFC should be concerned with losing out on. Maybe free tv shows, but even then, he's not even at a level to keep competitive. The UFC would have to keep finding appropriate opponents to match with CM Punk. But the UFC is the elite level of MMA, not the revolving door for fighters to test the waters. The curiosity factor is gone and it really won't cause serious harm if he went to Bellator.

[Rocky2100]

Personal opinion, yes I believe he should be cut. Not to keep beating a dead horse but the guy didn't deserve the shot to begin with. I applaud his effort and 2 yrs of training but this should be a one and done in the UFC. He got his shot, got his ass whooped, and walked away with a half of mill.

Business wise, I do not see Dana White cutting bait with him quite yet. I believe they could still get the audience attention for at least one more fight. He continues to train, hype up that he's getting better, get his ass kicked once again, and then cut ties. I just think people will still be curious for one more fight.

If anything moving forward, they should make him compete in a season of TUF.

[RKing85]

The UFC is in the money making business. The new owners NEED to make money considering they just dropped 4 billion for this product. I have heard the interest on the loans they had to get to buy the company will equal out to about $100 million a year.

CM Punk was paid $500,000. He brought in about 125-150,000 extra PPV buys judging by the estimates. UFC gets about $30 from every PPV buy. So Punk brought in over $4 million dollars extra for the UFC. That's a pretty good return on investment.

He'll get another fight.

[Christian Small]

I think Punk got a ton of curiosity buys for his first fight which he wouldn't get for his second, especially since he put on such a poor performance and was pretty much destroyed in the fight. I'm also not sure if Punk would want to do another fight. I think at best he'll get a fight on TV so they might pop a rating.

[Deleted]

Weird position for them, since he did draw big numbers but it's most likely a case of diminishing returns.

The only question heading into his debut was, "Can CM Punk fight?", which was even the tag-line used in marketing the bout. The answer was a resounding NO.


The only other viable "UFC opponent" for him is Mike Jackson, and even then, not sure that draws on PPV, though it would likely do good on FOX. But would someone making $500k guaranteed be worth putting on TV where they can't monetize the event like PPV?


Even if they re-tooled his contract and farmed him out to a regional org. for Fight Pass, I doubt he'd beat any welterweight featured on the main card of a typical RFA or Legacy show.

Gall is a good prospect, but he's not a prodigy. There are skilled bruisers in regional promotions all over the country. And Punk would lose to every single one of them. You'd have to really scrape at the bottom of the barrel to find a guy with a pulse Punk could beat.


If he really wants to fight again, cutting him and having Bellator waste a bunch of money to give him some tomato can wouldn't be the worst idea. Punk can just come back to UFC as a talking head or whatever after he loses again in Bellator, and it's not like Bellator would be able to sustain their ratings after a Punk fight.

[wigsf3]

Yes cut him. I want to see him wrestle, pro wrestle.

[deezy]

What helped kill mma in Japan?

One would say organized crime, but lets be honest about that....nobody cared about that.

When you started promoting these freak show fights with the Jose Canseco's of the world, making this tough guy sport look like shit and a joke that should be pumped in with pro wrestling had a bigger part in that imo

Take the L, use CM punk as a cautionary tale of why this is the "real shit" "you want to be a fucking fighter?" "This is what happens".

Worst part was letting this guy get his bucketlist marked off is that they lost a guy who could take over Rogens spot, can't now....we see he knows nothing.....unlike Joe, who wasn't stupid enough to act like he could fight in the octagon.

[Milky]

I wouldn't feel too bad for CM Punk guys. I think that UFC could use him in some sort of colour/interviewer role. He's still incredibly marketable and well-known. I assume he knows something about MMA and now he's had experience from an insider's point of view too.

He did lose pretty bad in his fight with Gall, but that's why I think he should have another crack at it. Next time he'll be ready for anything and since nobody will be expecting anything from him, if he just holds his own for a while he'll get his cred back.

Also, any wrestling promotion in the world would take CM Punk in a heartbeat (including WWE) and he's also got avenues in other realms of pop-culture too; walking dead, comics, etc. Not to mention Bellator.

Punk's got a ton of options and it's really up to him what he wants to do with his life. It's a good position to be in and he's earned that.

[deezy]

His only experience is throwing a seriously terrible punch and getting embarrassed and beaten up.....atleast Robin Black had multiple fights to pad up his analysis cred.

And nobody gets paid for Talking Dead.

He can fuck off and write comic books for all I care