As CM Punk’s teammate for the past two years, Anthony Pettis knows something the fans don’t. While many people are counting out the former WWE superstar in his upcoming fight against Mickey Gall, ‘Showtime’ expects Punk to surprise UFC fans watching UFC 203 worldwide.
“He’s gonna surprise some people,” Pettis said during Tuesday’s MMA Hour. “A lot of people are counting him out. The guy wants to fight. To have this guy come to the gym, watch fight videos, sacrifice his body, clean the mats… He has no ego, he trains as hard as we do.”
“When he first showed up it was like ‘we have some work on our hands’. He didn’t even have regional experience.”
Punk officially signed with the promotion back at UFC 181 when Pettis defended his lightweight title against Gilbert Melendez and his debut has been pushed back due to injuries ever since. Now just a few days from UFC 203, Pettis believes his teammate is more ready now than he ever was.
“This is the right time for him to test himself. Anyone who puts the work in like Punk did can wear Duke Roufus banner.”
Although ‘Showtime’ has faith in Punk’s Octagon debut, he’s still acknowledges the difficult task at hand on Saturday night. Punk’s opponent Mickey Gall (2-0) made a lot of noise in his UFC debut in February, when he absolutely destroyed Mike Jackson in under a minute in a fight that showed Gall’s impressive striking and submissions, as he dropped Jackson within the first 30 seconds before wrapping up a rear-naked choke 15 seconds later.
“It’s gonna be a tough fight, the guy (Punk’s) fighting is a UFC athlete. It’s good they gave someone without much experience, but no matter who he fights there are no bad UFC fighters.”
“I’m excited to see Punk show everyone what he can do.”
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