Fight fans very well could see a CM Punk return in 2017, if former WWE champion Phil Brooks gets his way. After dropping a first round submission to Mickey Gall in 2016, Punk was very adamant about stepping into the Octagon for another potential fight.

While UFC President Dana White wasn’t initially in favor of the idea, stating that if Punk wanted to have another MMA fight, he should likely do-so outside of the UFC, Punk recently stated that the UFC President has appeared to change his tune, and is now more on-board with the idea:

“I had a good conversation with him. I told him, ‘If you want to cut me, I get it. But, I’m fighting whether it’s for you or somebody else.’ Now, I don’t got an agent or a manager. I’m like Bill Murray, just with a lot less money, less funny or as famous. But, I did tell him I want to fight again and we’re back at it, back to the drawing board. So, it’s up to him. He floated me an idea and we’re kind of going back-and-forth on it right now. I’m at the point where I want to get something on paper, so, you might be able to hear an announcement in the coming weeks. I really don’t know, there is no timetable, though. I don’t want to speak for him, but if he wanted to kill it, he would have killed it right then.”

Since then, there has been no word as to the status of Punk’s return, however in a recent interview, the Chicago native revealed that he was working feverishly to get himself another fight.

“I am working on it feverishly. I’m throwing names at Dana (White), opponents, dates. I don’t know if he’s waiting for a Chicago show or what the deal is but if it doesn’t happen in the UFC, it will happen somewhere else. I’m dedicated to fighting and training. We’ll get there.”

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/3/2017.