He’s given us a date, now comes the tough part – sticking to his word. Former WWE Champion CM Punk revealed on a recent episode of UFC Unfiltered that he will make his debut for the promotion (and his MMA debut) at UFC 203.
His opponent remains unchanged – 23-year-old rookie Mickey Gall will be Punk’s welcoming committee to the octagon. Though just two fights old, Gall is still more experienced than the 37-year-old former pro-wrestling icon.
Gall’s UFC debut was something of a fairytale – he got the nod from Dana White after winning a fight at a smaller promotion the UFC President was spectating. Gall called Punk out, and Dana gave him a ticket through the hallowed gates of the UFC, on the condition that the rookie would get his match with Punk if he beat his UFC opponent, Mike Jackson.
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And beat him he did – Gall underlined his UFC debut by tapping out Jackson in the first round. Since the win in February, rumours abounded of the Punk-Gall tilt materializing at UFC 200 or around then.
This is the UFC’s official tweet:
The card is headlined by a Heavyweight Championship bout between Stipe Miocic and Alastair Overeem and also features a fight between women’s Bantamweight contenders Jessica Eye and Bethe Correia.