CM Punk Talks Possible UFC Debut Date, Says He’ll Have ‘At Least’ Eight Fights With UFC, Says You’ll Lose Money If You Bet Against Him

As noted, CM Punk is currently doing press work for UFC, and will likely being fielding a lot of questions about his upcoming UFC fight debut. 

Punk recently spoke to The Sun about this, including how many fights he believes he could have, how much he’s improved in a year, possibly fighting at UFC 199 or 200, and much more. You can read a few excerpts below: 

CM Punk confirms the total number of fights included in his contract, responds to how many times he will fight: 

“I can’t honestly answer how many (fights) I’m gonna have – we’ll wait and see how the first one goes. But there’s gonna be eight, at least.”

How much improvement has Punk seen in himself this year? 

“Can I say a thousand percent? Because I get better every day. And that’s what really kinda excites me about this whole thing – I know how much I’ve grown since the last time I talked to you. I know how much I’ve improved since the first time I stepped foot in Duke’s gym. And looking at June or July as a fight date I get kinda (excited) thinking how much better I’m gonna be from now until then. I get better every day.”

Does he have any thoughts about debuting at UFC 199 or UFC 200?

“It’s really kinda weird. Yeah I’d rather be on (UFC) 200 because monetarily I’d be making more money, and that’s the big show. But I’m not doing this whole thing for money, so it almost kinda doesn’t matter to me. But since it’s only a month later it’s like ‘oh yeah, why don’t we push it?’.”

Are Punk’s critics giving him more encouragement to succeed? 

“Oh yeah, (but) it certainly doesn’t hurt my feelings. I understand the criticism levied at me, especially from anybody who’s stepped into the cage. But life gives you opportunities and you either sit on your ass and watch them whizz by you, or you jump on them. I jumped on this opportunity, I’m not sorry about it and I’m not living my life for any fans or any fighters that want to see me fail. I’m living life for me.

I expect people to be disappointed. I expect all those people that think I’m gonna get knocked out in 10 seconds to be disappointed. I expect people to bet against me and lose their money. I expect people to get divorced because they’re upset that their wife wanted me to win and they wanted me to lose, you know? But the people who have stood by me and supported me know it’s business as usual. They know what kind of person I am and they know how I am at the gym. And once that cage door shuts it’s between one minute and 15 minutes before the fight ends and my hand gets raised.”

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