When CM Punk decided to walk out on WWE after years of frustration with any combination of creative decisions, money, and his own standing within the company, talk of what could be next for him immediately turned to mixed martial arts (MMA). It is a passion of his, after all, as evidenced by his extensive training with Rener Gracie in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and his attending as many Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) shows as possible.
That includes UFC on Fox 10 this past weekend in Chicago, where he was interviewed by Ariel Helwani and spoke of possibly being interested in taking a professional fight. People won't believe he could ever pull it off and that, to him, is the biggest reason to attempt to make it happen.
His trainer, Gracie, actually thinks he could be quite successful at it.
With that being said, where would he go? Certainly not the UFC, right? Only the very best compete inside the Octagon, right?
Well, promotion President Dana White was approached about as much recently during a media scrum (via MMA Fighting) and had this to say:
"He hasn't said a word to me. He hasn't reached out to me. I was with him all night in Chicago, he never said a word about it. He just showed up. We talked about a lot of things, fighting wasn't one of them. I like him, he's a great guy. It's a little late to get into the game, but who knows if he can fight? I don't know. We'll see what happens, but I like him a lot. He's a nice guy."
That certainly sounds like he's leaving the door open because anything can happen but it's not likely so he probably won't ever really have to worry about it.
Still, how much money could be made on a CM Punk UFC fight? The dollar signs would be dancing in Dana's dome.
For all the latest news and notes on CM Punk leaving WWE click here.