What’s the story?
UFC Fighter CM Punk returned to television for last night’s season premiere of “The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros.” The show featured Punk alongside nine other professional athletes competing against alumni of the reality competition in a series of obstacles over the course of the season.
In case you didn’t know....
CM Punk spent most his life as a professional wrestler competing in a variety of promotions from 1999 to 2014. Punk rose to international fame as a wrestler due to his time in WWE but would leave the company back in 2014 citing creative differences and health issues.
Punk would eventually sign with the UFC in December 2014 and would have his first fight two years later at UFC 203. Punk lost his fight with Mickey Gall in 2:14 of the first round. He has yet to have another fight but claims to be looking for his next opponent.
The heart of the matter
Punk’s appearance on the show marked his first time on a reality TV show and will see him and the other professional athletes competing for a designated charity. The competition will last for six weeks and the male and female winner will win $50,000.
Get ready for @ChallengeMTV champs to battle professional athletes on #ChampsVsPros this Tuesday! pic.twitter.com/sVcGYp5UP8
— MTV (@MTV) May 14, 2017
What’s next?
Punk’s appearance on the show is his first time since his UFC fight where he’ll be demonstrating his athleticism.
Author’s take
Punk’s appearance on the show was the source of minor controversy as some fans mocked him for being labelled an MMA fighter despite having two years of training and one fight to his name. Regardless of this, Punk seems intent on continuing his career in MMA and should be given that respect.
On the other hand, almost everyone would be in agreement that Punk will always be more associated with professional wrestling than he ever will with MMA simply because of the time he spent in the indies and in WWE.
Hopefully Punk does well in his latest venture.
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