Dana White to discuss UFC fight with CM Punk, says ex-WWE star will be at UFC 181

CM Punk

UFC President Dana White admits he has interest in signing former WWE champion CM Punk (a.k.a. Phil Brooks) to a UFC contract.

Although he hasn’t publicly expressed desire to step in the octagon, Punk (0-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has been the source of plenty of speculation.

White added to that buzz earlier this week when he told TMZ he would like to talk to Punk about the possibility. And in an interview today on “The Jim Rome Show” on CBS Sports Network, White further fueled the fire when he revealed Punk will attend Saturday’s UFC 181 event in Las Vegas.

“He left the WWE for whatever reason, he’s a huge fan of the UFC, he’s been training for a few years now, and he’s interested in fighting,” White told Rome. “I’m interested in talking to him. … CM Punk is coming to the show this weekend, and we’re going to talk.”

The 36-year-old recently ended his nearly decade-long relationship with WWE due to several concerns over working conditions. He’s admitted to losing desire for pro wrestling and has stated he has no plans to go back.

Along with his training for WWE competition, Punk has spent several years practicing jiu-jitsu under famed grappler Rener Gracie. However, that appears to be the extent of his former martial arts training.

Perhaps the only athlete who has fought for the UFC who can draw any parallels to Punk is former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. The difference with Lesnar, though, is that the former titleholder earned an NCAA Division 1 national wrestling championship.

“You never know (if he can fight) until you get in there,” White said. “I didn’t know if Brock could fight. I thought Brock was crazy for coming over here. But, the difference with Brock Lesnar is Brock was a world-class wrestler. I don’t know. We’ll see.”

Dana White

White has also recently discussed the potential of Lesnar returning to the UFC. However, unlike Punk, Lesnar’s still contracted to the WWE until April, which means the UFC can’t enter formal contract discussions until then.

If Punk did sign with the UFC, White said he wouldn’t be treated the same as Lesnar, who challenged for UFC gold in just his fourth pro fight. According to White, Punk would be handled like any other inexperienced signee. Should he make the decision to commit to a UFC fight, Punk wouldn’t be thrown into the deep end.

“He’s not a guy that we would do what we did with Brock; we threw Brock right to the wolves,” White said. “Brock started fighting all the top heavyweights in the world because of his wrestling background.

“CM Punk, we would bring him in just like any regular fighter, and he would fight a guy with a similar record to his, which is 0-0.”

For more on UFC 181, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.