CM Punk still hopes to fight in the UFC again, says he’ll be ready by January

We haven't heard much from CM Punk -- outside of his shooting down any WWE comeback talk while taking a shot at President-elect Donald Trump -- since he was savagely beaten in his first professional MMA fight at UFC 203 in Cleveland back in September. He wants to come back, although UFC President Dana White has said he likely won't have another fight inside the Octagon.

During an interview with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour today, Punk said he hopes he does get another shot:

"To me, yeah. That's up to Dana (White). I had a good conversation with him. I told him 'hey, if you want to cut me, I get it. But I'm fighting, whether it's for you or somebody else.' Now, I don't have an agent, I don't have a manager, I'm like Bill Murray, just with a lot less money and not as funny or as famous. But I told him I want to fight again. We're back at it, we're back to the drawing board. It's up to him. He floated me an idea and we're kinda going back and forth on it right now. I'm at the point where I kind of want to get something on paper. You might hear an announcement in the coming weeks, I really don't know. There's no timetable on it. ... I'm pretty confident (my next fight) will be in the UFC."

He wouldn't say what exactly they're talking about, calling it a private conversation and talks are still ongoing. He did say he could be ready to fight again by January or February and he's eager to get back in the cage to try again.

We'll just have to see if Dana White -- and an Athletic Commission -- we'll be willing to let him do that in the UFC.