We're coming up on the one year anniversary of CM Punk's tell-all podcast with Colt Cabana and the bombshell announcement that he was signing with mixed martial arts promotion UFC that followed.
In that time, we've heard different estimates about when, exactly Punk (or Phil Brooks, the legal name he is sometimes refered to now that he's left the "fake" pro wrestling world) would step foot inside Dana White's Octagon and participate in his first sanctioned MMA bout.
At the time of the contract announcement, it was some time in 2015. Halfway into the year, it was within six months, which would have let them slide in under the deadline of keeping true to that original estimate. White pushed it out a little further.
Now, ESPN is reporting on a training injury to Punk's shoulder that will delay him for an indeterminate amount of time. Brett Okamoto's chat with Duke Roufus, Punk's coach and the head man at the Milwaukee Roufusport Academy where he trains revealed that he's been sidelined for a couple of weeksafter "tweaking" a shoulder.
Punk is set for a doctor's re-evaluation of the injury next week, at which time he may resume training, Roufus says:
Our biggest thing is we want him to 101 percent before [we resuming training]. We don't have a hard date for his fight to force the issue, so making sure he's completely healthy is possible.
His coach only puts him at about "50 percent" prepared for his debut, so even before this setback, Roufus' schedule didn't quite line up with the ones previously provided by Punk or Dana:
We're probably looking at a fight in the next six to 10 months. The injury throws us back one month. We had a ballpark. We were looking at mid- to late-spring. Now, we'll just have to see how he comes back from the injury.
If these estimates are any more accurate than the initial ones, we could see Punk in a shoot fight around WrestleMania time next year.
But you'll have to forgive the cynics who find it more likely that he'll appear at a WrestleMania before he steps foot in an eight-sided cage.