'Power Ranger' Jason David Frank wants CM Punk for his first UFC fight
It's been less than 24 hours since the UFC announced the signing of former WWE champion Phil 'CM Punk' Brooks to the roster and it didn't take long for fighters to start calling out the newcomer for his first fight inside the Octagon.
Everyone from top 10 ranked middleweight Michael Bisping to former Ultimate Fighter winner Elias Theodorou took the opportunity to ask for a fight with Brooks when he debuts. The truth of the matter, however, is neither of them will get anywhere near the former professional wrestler in his first fight considering he's got zero fighting experience without a single bout on his record either professionally or even at an amateur level.
UFC president Dana White stated on Saturday night that Brooks' first fight will come against someone with equal footing in the fight game, most likely a fighter with one or two professional fights on their record.
Enter former Mighty Morphin Power Ranger Jason David Frank to the conversation.
Frank, 41, actually dabbled in mixed martial arts as recently as 2010 when he turned from acting to fighting with four amateur bouts taking place in Texas and Virginia. The life long martial artist racked up four wins, finishing all of the bouts in the first round. Frank's commitments to film projects and appearances eventually forced him to forgo a future in MMA, but the moment Brooks' name came up on Saturday night he was chomping at the bit to get the former professional wrestler in the Octagon.
"Jason's actually been kind of toying with the idea of fighting CM Punk for over a year now," Frank's manager Brian Butler from Suckerpunch Entertainment told FOX Sports on Sunday. "They toured together on the Wizard World conventions and they were doing appearances together and the fans were kind of talking about it and it got some buzz about a year ago. It never really died down, but with the announcement last night it flared back up.
"I got a text message from Jason right away saying 'he wants to fight at middleweight, too, I'd love to do it, he got away from me' just kind of joking around. But actually it makes a lot of sense."
Frank took to his Facebook page on Sunday as well to request the fight with Brooks, blasting out a notice to his over 600,000 fans on the social networking site.
"I have to do this and wake up the UFC," Frank wrote. "I like CM, this is just a professional call out again. This is my life and I deserve a shot at this. Haters hate, winners win. It's a great fight, embrace, don't hate."
As crazy as it might sound, Frank and Brooks have discussed the possibility of fighting in the past.
Nearly two years ago while they were both taking part in the Wizard World convention series that travels around the United States with celebrities for fan signings and appearances, a fan asked Brooks about facing Frank in an actual fight.
"Sure, why not," Brooks responded when goaded for a response.
In this brave new world where a former WWE champion with no actual background in fighting is going to make his UFC debut in 2015, a fight against a former Power Ranger with legit martial arts experience isn't nearly as crazy as it sounds.
"It doesn't make sense to anybody that CM Punk is in the UFC now to start with, but that bridge is already built. He's there. So with that said, who better of an opponent for your very first fight than Jason Frank?" Butler stated. "He has credibility because he has four MMA fights under his belt with four finishes. They would both be making their pro debut.
"Jason brings a cult like fan base following. I don't think there's anyone on the UFC roster that could fight Phil in his first fight and have it looked at as remotely fair. I'm not doubting Phil. I kind of applaud him for putting himself out there like that. It's a gutsy move. I think this would be a great fight for his first fight and see where it goes from there."
