The Reality Of CM Punk’s UFC 225 Loss

The following editorial was written by Ivan Barrera and does not reflect the opinions of WrestleZone as a whole. We encourage you all to discuss Ivan’s thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this post and follow him on Twitter @NIb0124

I feel compelled to burst people’s bubble after seeing all the posts claiming CM Punk came out as a winner after UFC 225.

Let’s face the truth, Punk lost his match. He was able to last three rounds without getting knocked out, but he didn’t look stellar or much improved after his first bout. Quite honestly his performance was only good because he’s still unknown in the octagon. The crowd’s buzz kept it alive. I’ll admit I had high hopes for Punk when the fight began, but after he got busted open he was fading quickly. Lasting until the end showed that he wasn’t going to go down easy. He is gritty and determined, going after this despite what his critics have to say. But when you are in the public eye, you have to accept you will ALWAYS have critics. His fans need to understand this as well. Keep sticking up for Punk, and there will be someone out there to oppose you.

Dominic DeAngelo wrote an article on this subject here on WZ and made a bold statement saying, “Punk won. UFC lost. And so did Corey Graves.”

No, Punk lost. UFC doesn’t win or lose, the fighters do that, and UFC provides the stage for them to do so. Corey Graves didn’t win or lose anything besides extra traffic on his twitter account.

Justifying Punk won by saying he went after his dream despite his critics isn’t winning, that’s just Punk being Punk. People do it all the time. By that means, Curt Hawkins is winning because he’s in WWE despite his horrendous losing streak. I admire Punk going through with his second fight after coming off a hard loss on his UFC debut. I admire that he was able to go three rounds without getting knocked out. And I admire him still standing with his head held high after the announcer declared Mike Jackson the winner. Crossing over from WWE into any other role is tough to do because being involved in professional wrestling carries a certain stigma about it which has people thinking that particular individual relies on booking to give them their success.

That said, UFC isn’t the same as WWE. Wins and losses in WWE aren’t the only determining factors in a character’s success, although they play a big role. Wins and losses are everything in UFC. You only get to the title bouts in UFC by winning over and over. It’s the same with other sports, too. This isn’t a judgement, just a fact.

Corey Graves involving himself on Twitter had a lot of people talking. I can’t say with absolute certainty that this was all that was intended, but I suspect it was. Nowhere in the near future should we expect Punk vs Graves. Punk has said over and over that he is done with wrestling. Corey Graves retired from wrestling due to concussion issues, so I doubt he will want to step into the octagon and risk more severe consequences. If Graves isn’t reprimanded by WWE, then no harm no foul. We’ll have to keep an eye on the situation.

Lastly, UFC doesn’t win or lose. It’s not like UFC suddenly lost millions because of Punk’s fight. This statement has me scratching my head because I don’t understand it. UFC provides the stage and the scene for the fighters, they are the ones who win or lose. UFC hosting a CM Punk fight in Chicago is big money whatever the result ended up being. They drew money.

All this aside, it’ll be interesting to see what happens next with CM Punk. If he chooses to go it again in the octagon, it’s his business. No amount of editorials or tweets will change his mind. Just like no amount of editorials (mine included) will change the fact that Punk is now 0-2 in his MMA career.

Related: CM Punk Loses His Second UFC Fight, Transported To Local Hospital