So you're realizing that CM Punk is probably going to fight at UFC 225: Five steps to total acceptance

You knew it the moment you heard that the UFC was headed back to Chicago for a June pay-per-view event.

And if you didn’t know it then, you knew it about three minutes later when Phil “CM Punk” Brooks responded with an emoji-laden tweet.

And if somehow you still didn’t get it by that point, here’s this Instagram post from Punk’s coach, Duke Roufus, heavily implying that the former WWE star is about to make his second octagon appearance at UFC 225.

Face it, Punk (0-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is going to fight in the UFC again. Probably in Chicago. Probably this June. Almost certainly on the main card of a pay-per-view, where you will pay premium prices to find out whether he can stay upright and in the fight for longer than a few seconds this time.

You might be feeling a lot of different things right now. Best to take it one step at a time.

Phase 1: Denial
Come on, this isn’t really going to happen, right? After all, didn’t UFC President Dana White stand there in Cleveland after Punk got demolished by Mickey Gall at UFC 203 and say, very clearly, that Punk “probably shouldn’t have his next fight in the UFC”? Yes. Yes, he did. Plus he was smirking when he said it, so that doesn’t seem like someone who was overly impressed with what he saw in that debut.

Phase 2: Doubt
Wait a minute, that was all the way back in 2016. That was before the UFC was sold. And then there’s the fact that Punk’s inclusion on the card helped UFC 203 to a reported 450,000 pay-per-view buys, which is more than other events headlined by Stipe Miocic did immediately before and after. And how about these new owners. Do they seem any less interested in making a quick buck by any means necessary?

Phase 3: Unreasonable Optimism
But hey, 2016 was a long time ago. He’s probably been in the gym this whole time (except for when he was on that MTV reality show), which means he’s had plenty of time to hone those skills. And everybody has jitters for their first fight. This will be fight number two, so he’s basically a seasoned pro now. Let the CM Punk era begin!

Phase 4: Joyous Nihilism
LOL bro, I don’t even care. Of course it’s going to be awful. Of course the UFC will go out and handpick an opponent just to try to find someone who Punk might stand some sort of chance against. And, most likely, he’ll either lose anyway or else win in a way that mostly just exposes how bad the other guy is. It’ll make even more of a mockery of the idea that the UFC is the pinnacle of the sport where only the best fight the best, but so what? None of this matters. Nothing matters. Pass the whiskey. Use it to wash down some expired Sudafed. So what, man. Big deal.

Phase 5: Acceptance
Look, MMA is one big carnival. It always has been, even when we wanted to pretend it was just like any other mainstream pro sport. Promoters have to get paying customers in the door, and for better or worse, Punk does that. I mean, yes, that line of reasoning works just as well as an argument in favor of the UFC signing every single Kardashian, but so what? Besides, it’s just one fight. It probably won’t even last long. And if he brings a brighter spotlight to the other fighters on the card – people who have actually put in the work over many years just to get here and make a fraction of Punk’s purse despite being far more skilled but it’s OK not even going to dwell on that – then it’s still a win in the end.

And if that doesn’t work, don’t worry. The whiskey and Sudafed should kick in soon.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie‘s official blog and is edited by Mike Bohn.