WWE/UFC News: CM Punk's UFC 225 opponent confirmed by Dana White

What's the story?

TMZ Sports caught up with UFC President Dana White on Thursday morning and received some breaking news. From WWE Champion CM Punk will face Mike "The Truth" Jackson at UFC 225.

In case you didn't know...

CM Punk began professional wrestling in 1999. He would have prominent runs with Impact Wrestling and Ring Of Honor from 2002 to 2006 before joining the WWE's revival of the ECW brand.

The heart of the matter

UFC 225 will take place in CM Punk's hometown of Chicago, Illinois, at the United Center. The card is headlined by UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker (19-4) defending against Yoel Romero (13-2).

This will be the second professional MMA fight for CM Punk. He fought Mickey Gall at UFC 203 on September 10, 2016, and was forced to tap out to a rear naked choke 2:14 into the first round.

Mike Jackson has a very similar path in the UFC as Punk. His first career UFC fight was also against Mickey Gall where he lost 45 seconds into the first round also via rear naked choke.

CM Punk is best known from his days with the WWE where he is a six-time world champion with the company (three reigns with the World Heavyweight Championship, two reigns with the WWE Championship, and one reign with the ECW Championship).

His last appearance in the WWE was at 2014 Royal Rumble where he entered first and lasted nearly 50 minutes before being tossed out by Kane with only two others left in the ring.

What's next?

There are still two UFC pay per views before they reach Chicago in June. UFC 223 will take place this Saturday, April 7th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The card is highlighted by a lightweight bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov (25-0) and Max Holloway (19-3).

Author's take

This almost seems like an old professional wrestling match from the territorial days where the "loser leaves town" because I'm assuming that the loser of this fight will no longer be fighting for the UFC and will have to look elsewhere for MMA employment.

As much as I would love for Punk to return to pro wrestling, I definitely want to see him succeed in the UFC, and hopefully, UFC 225 is the first step.