UFC CEO Dana White said that ex-WWE star CM Punk will be at UFC 181 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
White said Friday he’s interested in Punk, whose real name is Phillip Brooks, according to reports.
White said he would talk to Punk about the possibility of coming to the organization, MMA Junkie reported.
“He left the WWE for whatever reason, he’s a huge fan of the UFC, he’s been training for a few years now, and he’s interested in fighting,” White said. “I’m interested in talking to him. … CM Punk is coming to the show this weekend, and we’re going to talk.”
Punk left the WWE due to a number of reasons, he said in a recent interview with Colt Cabana. Punk also has trained under jiu-jitsu trainer Rener Gracie, and there’s been videos of him doing jiu-jitsu uploaded on YouTube.
“You never know (if he can fight) until you get in there,” White added. “I didn’t know if Brock could fight. I thought Brock was crazy for coming over here. But, the difference with Brock Lesnar is Brock was a world-class wrestler. I don’t know. We'll see.”
Punk is listed at 218 pounds, meaning he could fight at light heavyweight (205 lbs) or middleweight (185).
“He’s not a guy that we would do what we did with Brock; we threw Brock right to the wolves,” White also noted. “Brock started fighting all the top heavyweights in the world because of his wrestling background. CM Punk, we would bring him in just like any regular fighter, and he would fight a guy with a similar record to his, which is 0-0.”
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