Phil 'CM Punk' Brooks is done with his first UFC match and the result was what most of you had predicted. He's 37 and has a heart of a warrior. We have seen him peak in WWE in the ring and with mic, we have seen his well-documented progress through videos, interviews and we all expected him to put up a fight and win.
Each one of us knows that he has trained hard and given his best for his first fight. We have seen him being confident and assertive since the time he signed to the UFC 2 years ago. Purists have never liked him being signed to the UFC but at the end of the day, the man has done it for himself and for the passion he has for Mixed Martial Arts. It surely has been beneficial for the sport but that was never the primary goal.
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In a rather emotional post-match conference, Punk talked about his approach, his entrance music, gameplan, his future in the company and regrets if any.
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Punk came into the conference in his trademark chequered shirt and a jacket outfit, only this time, it is after a fight and he looked battered. The side of his forehead bore fresh bruises and his right ear was all taped up. His expression, very different from what we have seen before, had shades of fear and a lot of emotions masked with a huge smile.
“Hellooww (chuckle), always a tough crowd”, Punk said.
The interview began with a question about his journey and although the match didn't go his way, what he thought about the process.
Punk: “The process was magical. I'm just disappointed. I'm beating myself up way more than I got beat up. I'm supremely disappointed but the answer to your question is aside from the outcome I wouldn't change anything for the world. Just being out there under the lights was the most fun I've ever had and to say it again, the second best day of my life. The first one was my wife when I married her, thank you.”
when asked about was there anything he wanted to change about the strategy which deployed with in the Octagon, Punk said, "Yeah, I would have thrown the right hand faster. I think I was a little late throwing the two, and then I got taken down."
Although he came out incredibly aggressive, he had a match plan.
Punk said, "Yeah, you know, watching what little tape there is on Mickey I think nobody pressured him. Once he got in a rhythm, especially in that first pro fight he had -- because the one with Mike Jackson was so short -- but his first pro fight the guy was just moving backwards. The plan was to just move forward. I was either going to come back with my shield or on it. I think that's the game I played."
When asked about whether he intends to continue fighting at the UFC level, he said, “My initial venture into this was going to be at the lowest level. This opportunity just got presented to myself. I would have been a fool to say no. I don't know what happens from here on out. What if I get cut? I don't know, you know what I mean? I think that's a possibility. Do I want that to happen? No. But who's to say where I go from here? I definitely want to keep going. I'm the kind of guy, I just fell off a bike. I'm not just going to shelf it and leave it in the street, I gotta get back on it and ride."
"Hard question to answer right now. Obviously, it's the same night I just lost. I'd love to jump back in there as quickly as I can and erase that but I gotta go back to the drawing board. I sort of look like the elephant man right now. The plan was to always take some time. My wife has put up with a lot through this process. Instead of her cooking meals for me and stuff like that. I gotta cook some stuff for her," Punk said when he was asked about a possible return to th Octagon.
Punk was questioned about what he would like to work on in his game, to which he replied, "Just timing. I got no excuses for what happened. Mickey was the better man."
Fans had a smile on their faces when Punk walked out to Cult of Personality, and the man himself revealed he chose the song because it is simply awesome.
When asked about his feelings about entering the Octagon, he said, "Well, I don't know if it's ever going to happen again. I didn't know at that time. I fully believed in myself, I know my coaches believed in me, my team believed in me. I thought I was going to win, but even then I wanted to... The scoreboard could have fallen on me. I've referenced that like three separate times this week. I don't know what's going to happen to me, I could get hit by a bus, I could die eating pizza tonight. I don't know. So I just try to enjoy life, even the bad stuff. This is the bad stuff. It sounds crazy but I'm still happy. I still love it."
While many people said that this match was lopsided, is he proud of what he has done out there?
(You can see him getting emotional and with a catch in the throat.) "I don't think... there's probably an alternate reality where I win and I'm still disappointed in myself. That's just who I am. I'm just really, really hard on myself. I lost and it sucks. And it was lopsided, and it's upsetting but I know I'm better than that," Punk said.
Punk spoke about his wife AJ Lee being very supportive of him in his endeavours and got teary eyed when he said, "You guys are all going to make me cry. You bastards. She just said she was proud of me, you know?"
Punk rued the fact that he didn't get what he wanted by saying, "No, I didn't win. That's what I wanted. I wanted to win, I wanted to perform. It didn't happen."
Punk opened up on his dwindling emotions he’s been through thourghout his 2 yeear jounry by saying, "Yeah, I think it's all coming out. I had back surgery for this, you know? I'm super happy that that's something that didn't bother me at all. Once I got it fixed I was like a different person. I'm fortunate for that and I'm thankful for that. I just think even to come back from that, even to... you know, it's like people can say I didn't belong here, they said I wasn't going to make it to the Octagon, and they said I wasn't going to make it after the back surgery, and then it was I wasn't going to make weight; I'm happy I did it. But yeah, there's a lot of emotion involved, sure."
The press conference, thus, came to an end as the interviewers thanked Punk, who picked up his bottle and walked away.
Phil is an inspiration as he’s done what many people refrain from doing at the age of 37. We can only hope he comes back stronger and works towards his first MMA win.
Thank you, Phil.
