Over the last 21 months, CM Punk has either been sitting at home following his infamous WWE departure or training for his UFC debut. During this time many present and past WWE superstars have spoken about his bold move of joining UFC and becoming a Mix Martial Arts fighter.
Now at a moment where the former WWE champion is just 2 days away from the UFC 203 event, ESPN has posted a collection of what other WWE superstar has spoken of his UFC Debut. Below are some of the thoughts from some famous WWE Superstars:
First of all Paul Heyman who was the on-screen manager of Punk during his infamous 434 days long WWE Championship reign, revealed that Punk had the intentions to become a full-time Mixed Martial Artist even before leaving WWE:
"Any conversation that I had with CM Punk dating back, even when he was still in WWE and was dreaming of getting involved in mixed martial arts, is that he was doing a switchover of careers from becoming a sports entertainer to becoming a full-time, career-oriented mixed martial artist,"
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins also spoke about the man known as Phil Brooks and wished him all the best for his upcoming adventure:
"He's a guy who led the charge for a long time. He's one of the first indie guys in a long, long time to really shake [up] the main roster in WWE and he paved the way for Daniel Bryan, for myself, Dean Ambrose, Cesaro, and those guys. Say what you will about his attitude and his relationship with the company right now, but I wish him the best and I hope that he is successful -- win, lose or draw."
Former NXT participant and WWE Superstar Ryback who said to have a personal vendetta with Punk over his comments about the 'Big Guy' following his WWE departure said that he respects Phil for doing this:
"From a basic human being standpoint, he is showing courage doing something the majority of people on this planet will never do and that is step in a cage and fight in front of millions of people, I respect he wants to test himself and has the courage to do so. For that reason alone, while I don't condone him saying the things he said about me, I want to him do well. Any man can beat another man on any given night, so I just hope he achieves what he is looking for in this and I will leave it at that."
Former WWE Superstar Stu Barret aka Wade Barret also commented on the brave move made by the former Leader of The Straight Edge society and said that biggest thing about him is that he does not hold back:
"I think he has been in the environment long enough and he understands the difference between shooting and working, as we say in the business, The biggest thing for Phil is don't hold back, don't doubt, don't hesitate. Go out there and live your dreams. You're in the UFC, you're here to be an MMA fighter. You put the time in, just go forward. Don't even bother looking behind you and just see what happens."
Finally, WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall thinks that Punk is going to lose his debut bout and UFC officials are also applying the strategy of wait and watch:
"I think people tune in to watch Brock win and I think they are going to tune in to watch Punk lose, I think they employed that strategy in their marketing so if he does anything but get creamed I think he comes out OK. They are not building him up as a big hype or anything.”
CM Punk will make his UFC debut during the UFC 203 event on September 10th.
