CM Punk and Cathal Pedred battle on Twitter, perhaps angling for future fight?

Phil “CM Punk” Brooks

Phil “CM Punk” Brooks and Cathal Pendred appear to be lining up a fight.

Or they could merely be two touchy Twitter guys. Who knows?

Pretty much out of nowhere, Pendred mocked the former pro wrestler’s budding MMA skills today on Twitter, writing, “CM Punk on the pads making me look like Muhammad Ali.”

That apparently was enough to get a rise out of Punk, who previously said he had laughed at callouts and declined to directly engage with suitors for a potential fight.

“Ali wasn’t a boring twat,” wrote Punk. “Sweet emojis. Focus more on you, maybe you’ll win a fight without a gift from the judges.”

Perhaps Punk (0-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) missed the split call Pendred (17-3-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) lost in his most recent fight at UFC 189, but the Irish fighter’s previously favorable decisions are well known. Punk certainly didn’t miss Pendred’s lackluster UFC 188 win over Dodger Montano, as he happily posted an unflattering “highlight” from the card as he continued his retort.

“I’ve been called out by everybody,” Punk continued. “I’m an easy target. YOU, are a coward and a p-ssy. Shouldn’t you call out somebody in the top ten?”

Punk, of course, is nowhere near that position. The 36-year-old former professional wrestler is still in training for his professional MMA debut, working in Milwaukee with the Roufusport Academy. No timetable for a first fight has been given. Punk has said he’ll leave that up to his coaches.

Yet still, it was off to the races as Punk and Pendred traded insults and sentence fragments with occasional disregard for punctuation.

“I didn’t call you out there you moron,” Pendred shot back. “I was just pointing out how sh-t you looked.”

“They got mirrors in Ireland? What sort of glass is your house made out of?” wrote Punk.

“I’ll tell you what I don’t see in the mirror..A 40 year old, washed up wrestler who’s used his fame to get into UFC,” wrote Pendred, later adding, “Apologies to all the wrestlers out there. I meant to say ‘washed up actor.’”

“F-ck you’re boring,” replied Punk. “Make fun of my age, my skill, where I come from, but realize I’ve made more money on my per diems alone than you have in the @ufc.”

Of course, Punk’s background as a pro wrestler calls into question the authenticity of his anger toward Pendred, especially given his previous comments about sidestepping the attention thrown his way by UFC fighters looking to capitalize on his fame.

Pendred certainly could use a bump after suffering his first UFC loss and the derision of fans who think the Irish fighter was gifted a pair of decisions earlier this year and think his fighting style is boring. Punk wouldn’t be the first to throw shade at Pendred in that respect.

We’ll find out soon whether this Twitter beef is nothing more than a Twitter spat between two guys who, this particular day, didn’t feel like self-censoring, or the real thing.

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