CM Punk’s long-awaited, long-debated jump from pro wrestling to MMA has come and gone, and it did not go the way he planned. The former pro wrestler, who had no real martial arts experience prior to signing with the UFC, was abruptly submitted by a much more experienced fighter in Mickey Gall on the main card of UFC 203 last Saturday.
Given Punk’s experiential deficit, nobody was particularly surprised by his failure against Gall. Though many fighters were quick to offer Punk props for his courage, most also admitted the fight unfurled exactly as they expected.
One of these unsurprised fighters was Gall himself. At the UFC 203 post-fight press conference, the victorious fighter told Shaun Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting that he knew what to expect from Punk.
“I know two-year guys,” Gall said, touching on the mere two years Punk had to sharpen his tools. “I beat up 10-year guys. I’ve been doing it since I was a teenager, so I knew what to expect. I knew I’d be able to dominate.”
advertisement – continue reading below“I don’t want to be disparaging, but I was fighting an amateur,” Gall also said. “So I 100-percent need to prove myself still. That’s why I’m excited to get going now. Now the real work, now the real fights. Every fight is a fight, and he’s training at Roufusport, a great place, [so] I do feel a sense of accomplishment, sure. I came in there, I loved seeing the crowd, all of that stuff, but yeah, I don’t feel like I beat a great fighter. I beat a fighter, not a great fighter.”
Having spoiled Punk’s MMA debut, Gall now sets his sight on the next step of his young career. Thanks to a clever, post-fight callout, that next step already appears to be in the works. All signs point to Gall taking on Sage Northcutt – another relatively green prospect mined from Dana White’s Lookin’ for a Fight show – sometime in the near future.
Did you think CM Punk had a chance against Mickey Gall, or did the fight go the way to expected? Sound off, PENN nation!