Matt Brown still shocked CM Punk actually fought in the UFC: 'They tried it once and learned their lesson'
04/27/2025 03:00 PM
CM Punk lived his dream this past Saturday night when he finally got the opportunity to headline WrestleMania 41 but it wasn't that long ago when the WWE superstar was living out another fantasy when he signed with the UFC.
His brief stint in the UFC actually came after Punk had a very public falling out when he left WWE and decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts instead. The signing was met with a whole lot of backlash and the results didn't go much better with Punk ultimately losing both of his fights in the UFC including his debut against Mickey Gall, which barely made it to the two minute mark of the opening round.
These days, Punk seems to have fallen back in love with professional wrestling again but UFC legend Matt Brown still marvels that the promotion actually gave him a shot based solely on his fandom rather than any actual proven skills.
"The thing with the Punk thing, it wasn't so much Punk," Brown explained on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. "A lot of people dream about fighting in the UFC. Just the fact that the UFC let it happen, it's like what are you guys doing? This is unnecessary. It's not the PR move they thought it was, at least in my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong. It did more for Mickey Gall than anybody else. I love Mickey. I'm good friends with Mickey so good for him. But I don't think it did shit for the UFC.
"You're not supposed to get in there because of your fame or your popularity. You're supposed to be the baddest f*cking dude. As real as it gets, right?"
Gall actually had to earn the fight against Punk when he got his own shot in the UFC after defeating Mike Jackson in similarly dominant fashion.
While he was a relative unknown at the time, Gall was an experienced martial artist with a deep background in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He was only 2-0 when he got booked for the fight against Punk, which took place at UFC 203 in Cleveland back in 2016.
Brown recounts a conversation he actually had with Gall about that fight because even though neither of them had much experience heading into that matchup, Punk was ultimately a professional wrestler who was an MMA fan and enthusiast.
"The thing that sucked, too, I talked with Mickey about it later. Like bro, you must have been nervous as f*ck for that fight because you can't lose to CM Punk," Brown said. "Plus he was 1-0. It was his second fight in the UFC. Like walking out in the UFC in your second fight. Can you imagine that? That's so f*cking much pressure.
"All the media, the attention, the hype and you're fighting this dude that f*cking sucks. You're the laughing stock if you get beat by this guy."
It worked out well for Gall, who dispatched Punk via submission in the first round and eight years later, he's still competing in the UFC.
As for Punk, he never regretted that he took his shot at fighting in the UFC even if the results didn't go his way. In his second fight, Punk was dominated over three rounds by Mike Jackson but the result was eventually overturned to a no-contest following Jackson testing positive for marijuana.
Since Punk's two appearances in the UFC, Dana White has effectively shot down any other weekend warriors getting a shot at competing in the octagon no matter how much they might love the sport.
WWE superstar and part-time boxer Logan Paul even revealed that he actually reached out to White about potentially competing in the UFC for a single fight but never even got a response. He believed that Punk likely "f*cked it up" for anybody else from professional wrestling who attempted to follow a similar path to get into the UFC.
The fact that it happened at all still shocks Brown but he believes Punk's misfortune probably convinced the UFC that it was never a good idea in the first place.
"[The UFC] tried it once and learned their lesson," Brown said. "They shouldn't have done it once really. But whatever. They did it. It's over with.
"Like I said, Mickey got the best end of that stick. The deal worked out great for him. I'm not sure how well it worked out for anyone else. Definitely not CM Punk."
