Former WWE Champion CM Punk is set to return to the UFC’s Octagon in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois on June 9th from the United Center.
Punk left the WWE back in January of 2014 citing several issues with the promotion. He then signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC and announced his intentions to pursue a career as a mixed martial artist.
Following two years of training, Punk made his official MMA debut against welterweight prospect Mickey Gall at the UFC 203 pay-per-view (PPV) event. Gall immediately took Punk to the ground and battered him before locking in a rear-naked choke for the first round submission win.
Despite the lopsided defeat, the former professional wrestler announced his intentions to continue fighting and refused to give up. Now, two years after making his MMA debut, Punk is back and will be challenging fellow 0-1 professional record-holder Mike Jackson.
Jackson is actually an MMA journalist who fought Gall back in 2016 for the opportunity to welcome Punk to the Octagon. Jackson lost that fight to Gall via first round submission as well after being rocked by the New Jersey native.
In fact, Punk lasted much longer in his fight against Gall, as Jackson was finished in just 48 seconds. Punk was submitted at the 2:14 mark. Despite this, Jackson believes he will pick up a dominant victory over the former WWE Champion.
Jackson recently did an interview with TMZ and said he’s going to show Punk that MMA isn’t for him. He also claimed to be the real draw in the match-up:
“I’m just going in here to beat him up a little bit and show him it’s not for him.”
“If you bring in someone else … it’s not gonna get this type of buzz. It’s getting this type of buzz because of me. This is a storyline not even Vince McMahon could write.”
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