When Chael Sonnen takes on Mark Munoz at UFC on Fox 2 on Jan. 28 in Chicago, Illinois, he will do so with WWE Champion CM Punk in his corner.
That's right, the best promo in MMA is hooking up with the best promo in pro wrestling to tear the house down at the United Center in the "Windy City." The Wrestling Observer has it:
Chael Sonnen confirmed last night that C.M. Punk would be in his corner for his 1/28 match with Mark Munoz at the United Center in Punk's home city of Chicago.
Punk was able to get the night off from a scheduled WWE house show in Evansville.
It's kind of funny to think now but I can remember a few weeks back when Punk tweeted to Sonnen that he couldn't send him a direct message on Twitter because Sonnen isn't following him. Twitter rules, and what not.
I thought that was interesting but didn't think it would expand beyond maybe Chael wanting to pay him a compliment or something that has nothing to do with anything substantial for either guy. Now, just a short time later, news comes out that Punk will be in Sonnen's corner for a huge fight.
What's surprising here is that the UFC is okay with this. In times past, UFC President Dana White has done everything possible to avoid viewers associating WWE with UFC. He's done this while maintaining a good relationship with Vince McMahon, however, so I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone convinced him to let them do something like this.
What will be truly special is if Sonnen wins and they have enough time to let him cut a promo live on network TV with Punk standing inside the Octagon with him. That will surely piss off plenty of the MMA purists but it makes old pro wrestling marks like us Cagesiders eager in anticipation.
There's also the chance Punk will never be shown on TV and there's even a chance Sonnen's entrance isn't shown due to time constraints. Hopefully that all gets worked out beforehand.
Either way, this sounds delicious, right?
UPDATE: According to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com, Punk will simply walk out with Sonnen but will not stick around to be in his corner. I've reached out to Sonnen but have yet to receive a reply.