Did the UFC finally find CM Punk's first opponent?
UFC president Dana White has been searching for an opponent to face former WWE pro wrestler CM Punk for his mixed martial arts debut, and from the look of things, the promotion has found a candidate.
White revealed back in December that he was using his new online reality series "Looking for a Fight" to search regional fight promotions to find a possible opponent for Punk, who has no previous experience or amateur fights to his record.
In the latest episode, which landed on UFC Fight Pass on Monday before its debut on YouTube on Jan. 11, White scouts fighters from two different promotions and ends up finding someone who actually calls out CM Punk after his first professional win.
The fighter's name is Mickey Gall, a New Jersey-based welterweight who trains out of Miller Brothers MMA -- the gym owned and run by UFC stalwarts Jim and Dan Miller.
"Hey Dana White, I don't know if CM Punk has an opponent, but I would love to fight that man, CM Punk. Hey, CM Punk, I'm 1-0," Gall shouted following his first professional victory.
Obviously, White wasn't going to make a decision on possibly signing Gall or any other fighter he discovered on his reality show at that moment. But he did say he was “interested” by the callout from the young welterweight prospect. Gall's appearance on the show, as well as White's reaction, can be viewed on the new episode currently available on UFC Fight Pass.
As far as Punk's debut, there's still no timeline or expected date for when he will actually step foot in the Octagon.
Punk signed with the UFC in December 2014 but still hasn't made his debut more than a year after moving and training full time under coach Duke Roufus in Milwaukee.
Punk had a setback in late 2015 with a shoulder injury that forced him out of the gym for several weeks, and the fact that he didn't debut in the past year concerned both Daniel Cormier and Kenny Florian when speaking about the former WWE superstar at a year-end show just a few weeks ago.
"Let's talk about some of that time passing, this is what really concerns me because they said he was going to fight in 2015, he needs some time to train. Well, it hasn't happened. I know he's dealt with some other injuries and things like that but the fact that they say he's not ready concerns me," Florian said at the time.
Well, according to Punk's head coach, he's progressing at a great rate now and there's no worry that he will make a splash this year when everybody finally watches him debut.
"I just left him at the gym and he had one of the best sessions he's had in training so far," Roufus told Sirius XM recently. "I respect those guys a lot, they're great analysts but they don't see the work that we're doing daily, and fans? They're going to find out some stuff this year about CM Punk."
As the scheduled for 2016 starts to roll out, it looks more and more likely that Punk could make his debut on the upcoming UFC 200 card that will likely be the promotion's biggest show to date. The card takes place on July 9 in Las Vegas at the new arena being constructed by MGM Properties, and the UFC is expected to book at least one if not multiple title fights and other big matchups to help fill out the show.
Punk's debut would certainly fill that bill. Now that the UFC may have found some candidates for his first opponent, all signs are finally pointing toward his long-awaited debut.
