Cro Cop back in the UFC [UPDATED]

UFC just announced that they got their hands on the Pride FC OWGP champion and former UFC employee, Mirko Cro Cop. I'm gonna do a quick run down of potential fights for Mirko then I'm gonna do separate article about the business side of this deal, since rumors are sugesting this deal was made when UFC got word of  Mirko closing a deal with Bellator and made a better offer. Now let's get down to business. 

Cro Cop is back! The toughest police officer since Robocop has re signed with the UFC.

Shortly after the news of his re signing hit the internet, Mirko went on his Facebook page and gave a lenghty response as to why he chose re signing with the UFC. As it turns out, he want another shot at some of the fights that didn't go his way the first time around, since some of the losses were very close fights.I consider myself a lifelong fan of Mirko's and this news excites me as a fan of his and as a MMA fan in general. So in light of this news, I'm gonna take a look at some potential fights for Mirko.

               

                                  Antonio "Big Foot" Silva 

                                  

             Antonio is schedueld to face Frank Mir on February 22nd at UFC fight night in Brazil, photo:UFC.com

Antonio is a big, powerful grappler who is willing to "stand and bang". However, he is very slowand  hittable as shown in almost all of his losses. Antonio's game plan is taking his opponent down and then blasting him with his huge fists in a devestating  display of ground and pound. Mirko's strenghts are his rich striking pedigree and  excelent takedown deffence. This should be more than enough to make this an interesting fight for Mirko.

                                     Andrei "Pitbull" Arlovski

              

        

We last saw Andrei avenging his loss to Big Foot Silva with a quick knockout victory, photo:UFC.com

Now this a no brainer. MMA fans have wanted to see this fight for years now. Since Mirko's departure from UFC and Andrei's losing streak it was thought this was another "what if.." scenario that would sadly never happen. Since then quite a few things have changed. Andrei is having a career resurgence with an 8-1-1 score in his last 10 fights and is as dangerous as always. Mirko returned to kickboxing, won the K-1 Grand Prix and showed that he is still a force to be  reconed with. Furtger more, both fighters are now in the UFC, injury free and awaiting their next fight.

          

                                 Rodrigo "Minotauro" Noguiera

         

Minotauro is often called "Big Nog" amongst fans, photo: UFC.com

When Mirko spoke of rematches he would very much like to have, I have no doubt in my mind this  was one of the fights he had in mind. The first time Mirko fought the legendary Brazilian heavyweight was way back in the glory days of Pride FC, The general feeling was, that had Mirko been more versed in grappling, the fight would be his for the taking. Unfortunatelly, Minotauro being the the BJJ expert that he is, submited Mirko in the second round of their fight. Since that fight Mirko has been training grappling with the likes of Fabricio Werdum and Dean Lister and has lost to submission only once since that fight. Minotauro is now a veteran of the sport, with no more then a fight or two left in him, A rematch of their first fight would undoubtedly raise Minotuaro's interests to see if he can best the Croatian once more.

                                    Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga

     

Gonzaga is tied with Frank Mir for the most finishes in the UFC Heavyweight division (11), photo: UFC.com

This is the fight that many believe changed Mirko and made him a hesatant fighter in his later UFC fights. Mirko was coming of a  OWGP(Open Weight Grand Prix) tournament win and a quick win over Eddie Sanchez in his UFC debut. Gonzaga was supose to be a minor threat before Mirko faces the champion, Randy Couture, for the heavyweight title. Things didn't work out so well for the former Croatian anti terrorist force member as Gonzaga used Mirko's signature weapon, the left high kick, to knock him out. Mirko is still the biggest win of Gonzaga's career and since he lost his last 2 fights inside the octagon, he is looking to prove that he is still a dangerous fighter. So what better way then in a rematch against Mirko. 

EDIIT: I started writing this Tuesday night, when the news broke off Mirko's signing and since then it has been confirmed that Gonzaga will indeed be Cro Cop's comeback fight. This is what I get for taking my sweet time to post new content, lesson learned. Internet: 1, me: 0.

                               Brendan "Big Brown" Schaub

            

Brendan also host a succesful podcast, called "The fighter and the kid" on youtube, photo: UFC.com

 Brendan is in a similar situation as the above mentioned Gonzaga. He has lost 2 in a row, with his latest being a konckout loss to Travis Browne  and is looking for a fight to prove himself a dangerous fighter and top 10 material. Mirko already faced Brendan back in march of 2011 when Brendan finished Cro Cop midway through round 3 of their bout. The fight itself was very competetive with  many believing Mirko was on his way towards a victory inside the octagon prior to the punch from Schaub that sent him to the canvas of the UFC's octagon. Joe Rogan had some harsh words towards Brendan after his loss against Travis Browne, saying:  

"The reality of your skill set, where you're at now, I don't see you beating the elite guys," Rogan told Schaub. "I don't see you beating Cain Velasquez. I don't see you beating Junior dos Santos. I don't see you beating Fabricio Werdum."

Which should be more than enough of a motivation for Brendan to go prove Joe Rogan and his doubters alike, wrong.

                                                Mark "Super Samoan" Hunt

                                                                      

Mark is famous for being an extremely durable fighter with immense knockout power, photo: UFC.com 

Mark has a lot in common with Mirko. Both men fought and gained fame fighting in Japan for K-1 and Pride FC and both men ended up fighting in the UFC. Their paths have crossed twice, once in K-1 in a kickboxing match with Mirko being the winner and some time later in Pride in a MMA match, when "The Super Samoan" got the best of Mirko. A trilogy settling who is the better fighter seems almost imminent.

Brock Lesnar     

                                                 

           

Brock fought for the UFC heavyweight championship belt in his third UFC fight, it was his forth MMA fight. Photo: UFC.com

Last but not least, we got; the former UFC champion and  probably the "biggest name" of this article, Brock Lesnar. Brock needs no special introduction, his nickname tells it all. He is"The Next Big Thing". Successful collegiate wrestler, turned successful professional wrestler, turned successful MMA fighter, who once more went on to be a successful professional wrestler. I've mentioned before that Brock is expected to make an MMA comeback sooner rather than later and altough Bellator's Scott Coker directly stated that he will start a bidding war with the UFC for Lesnar's contract, it's a safe bet Brock will return to UFC, regardless of any other offers. With that being said and done. Lesnar's MMA record stands at 5-3 and his losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem have showed, that  he doesn't react well when faced with pressure(fancy way of saying, he doesn't like getting hit in the face) and Mirko being a skilled kickboxer whose most notable wins were against wrestlers, could make this an interesting match up.

Honorable mentions: Alistair Overeem, Ben Rothwell, Stipe Miočić, Fabricio Werdum, Roy Nelson

This covers my analysis of Cro Cop's potential opponents, I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting. If not, the comment sections below my articles are feeling lonely, so feel free to drop a word or two. As always, my facebook page is up and running, the url is; facebook.com/armbarsmmaworldoffical, liking it won't give you free candy or free hookers but it will make me happy, if that counts for anything. Untill nex time, I'm Armbar, saying; Good fight, good night! 

Weekly news roundup

Hey everyone! It's fight day! By the time I finish writting this up, UFC Boston should already be in full swing, but If your not watching,or just taking a commercial break,check out some of the stories that made headlines this week. 
Lets start things off with some awesome future match ups that are stacking up the UFC 186 fight card.


UFC 186: Dillashaw vs Barao 2

TJ Dillashaw will defend his Bantamweight belt against Renan Barao in a rematch  after he shocked the Brazilian and the world in one of the best fights and biggest upsets of 2014. Can TJ capture lightning in a bottle the second time against the Nova Uniao's former champion, or will "The Baron" retain his gold? We'll find out soon enough. Now if that title fight didn't get you riled up, the rest of the main card will. The co-main event is a welterweight title eliminator fight between the #1 contender in Rory MacDonald and former Bellator middleweight champion, Hector Lombard. Both men are looking to make a statement with this fight and cement their spot as the title contender. So we should see both men bring their "a game" and make one hell of a fight.
Next up we got a guaranteed knockout waiting to happen, as Brazilian hard hitter Fabio Maldonado welcomes back to the UFC, Quentin "Rampage" Jackson. As if one noble man wasn't enough for this fight card, "The Count", Michael Bisping  will square off against  "The Doberman",  CB Dolloway in what will  be certainly be another potential fight of the night candidate. Last but not least; we got Joe Riggs vs Patric Cote. Unless unwanted injuries strike, this will definitely be one the best fight cards of 2015.
source: sherdog.com


" I would 100 percent send him packing back to the fake wrestling"   

Brendan Schaub  made headlines this week as he had strong words regarding a potential octagon return of Brock Lesnar.
    " Doing fake wrestling is not the same as being in the UFC. You’re playing grab ass,” Schaub said. “You know if you’re going to win or lose. Yeah, it’s hard on your body. Great. He hasn't been competing and training like I have. If he comes back to the UFC, I would 100 percent send him packing back to the fake wrestling." .

The rumors of a potential MMA comeback of  the "Next Big Thing"  have been going strong for some time now with even Bellator's Scott Cocker expressing interest in the current WWE champion. Brock is keeping quite about this subject, but the indications are pointing towards  Lesnar getting another crack at the world of MMA.
Despite having harsh words for the former UFC champion, Brendan did also express admiration towards him;
                "I think what he does, he’ll still be very successful because he’s so damn big and a really talented wrestler” ... "There’s just not that many big, explosive guys who are athletic like he is. So, he’s always going to be successful."

 source: mmanews.com

Fighters looking to form a union?

Wanderlei Silva, Jon Fitch and Nate Quarry  were in attendance for the annual National League Football Players Association(NLFPA) Collegiate Bowl, a post-season college football game for NFL draft eligible college players. What gathered  the interest of former UFC fighters was one of the many side programs. The NLFPA takes this opportunity for future NFL superstars  to be introduced to the business side of  professional football and the existance of a footballer players union. "The Axe Murderer" has been very vocal about his opinion regarding the UFC and fighter pay, and Jon Fitch  as well as Nate Quarry have been one of the main plaintiffs in the multi-dollar law suit against the UFC so for them to be attending a NFL players union meetings sparks up quite a few implications regarding a potential fighters union.

source: mmafighting.com

"Break a leg"

After suffering a loss(and a horrific injury) to Chris Weidman in late December of 2013, Anderson Silva  underwent a long and painful 12 month healing process. "The Spider" recently opened up about his fear off getting hooked on painkillers.

 "I thought that I was getting used to the pain but I wasn't. I hope to not experience that anymore. I don't wish that for anyone. It was terrible. I'm fine now but there were months of much pain. There were a lot of strong antibiotics that I had to take to end the pain. I started to take and the pain disappeared. When I wasn't feeling pain, I wanted already to take the pills, that was the point that I stop taking them. I wasn't addicted but I was feeling myself depressed, the medicine was letting me sleepy. I decided to stop, to avoid getting addicted. I started to fill my bathtub of ice. The pain came and I got into the ice. Pain? Ice! Then I got better."

He also briefly spoke about Dana White's claims that with a victory over Nick Diaz, the former champion gets another crack at the division's new top dog.

"Only the time will tell about this. If I get credentials again to fight for the belt and I have to face Weidman one more time, I'll face him with no problem. I think that I still have some time to do what I love. The competition drives us."
So be sure to watch Anderson  make his ocatogon return against Nick Diaz  at UFC 183, January 31st.

source: Bloodyelbow.com

2015 won't see the return of GSP

Despite what Dana White would have you believe, it looks like we won't be seeing everyone's favorite Canadian in the Octagon anytime soon.

Georges Saint Pierre's manager made a statement regarding a potential UFC return and left little to none wiggle room for optimism.
"there is no plan for 2015," .... "We are working on a few projects but nothing related for him coming back in the octagon"

In November of last year, Georges himself, also had little optimism regarding his pending MMA return
"I don't know if I will go back to competition," .... "I just came back from rehab. It's time for me to enjoy my life. Training, do it for fun. We'll see. I need some time."

So it looks like we shouldn't be holding our breaths regarding the former welterweight kingpins' comeback.

source: bloodyelbow.com

Robbie Lawler vs Rory MacDonald/Hector Lombard or Johny Hendricks/Matt Brown  and "Big Rig" hates weight cuts

 Rory MacDonald might have to put in some extra effort in his Hector Lombard fight if he wishes to get another shot at the freshly crowned champion, Robbie Lawler. 

Despite being promissed a fight with the winner of the Robbie Lawler/Johny Hendrick rematch, it looks like Johny Hendricks might get a third fight against Lawler if he wins in an impressive style against  Matt Brown, as stated by Dana White. 

Speaking of  Johny Hendricks, he made statements being displeased with his grueling weight cutting process. "Big Rig" stated that if he has to endure another hard weight cut that he is either going to retire or move up to middleweight

"It's been half my fault. I can't do that weight cut. I can't balloon up to 218 and think that [Mike] Dolce can get me down to weight. That's where I'm taking the responsibility. I'm walking around at '95, and I'm getting my muscle mass back, I'm looking to get my body weight back."  ........   "If it[a bad weight cut] does[happen again], than yes, I'll have to be 185 or be done. I don't think my body can handle another one like that."

source: bloodyelbow.com

Kimbo is back

The bare knuckle brawler turned internet sensation, turned professional MMA fighter, Kevin Ferguson better know by the name of "Kimbo Slice", has been signed by Bellator.

As part of Scott Coker's plan to bring eyes on Bellator, a number of changes are taking place and with it bold signings are being made. Altough Kimbo Slice hasn't had a professional MMA fight since a UFC loss to Matt Mitrion in 2010. He still holds the record for participating in one of the most watched MMA fights in U.S. history. 
 "I've been trying to keep busy as much as possible," said Slice. "Been boxing over the past couple of years. My current record [as a boxer] is 7-0. Bellator is up there in the tops and they're giving me the opportunity to fight on primetime and Spike TV. You know you can't resist Spike TV.".......  "I'm still hungry out there. I haven't got my fill yet. Whoever steps up to the plate, they got to bring it. I'm coming to get it." 

Scott Coker also dropped some interesting bits of information, mentioning Pride veteran and MMA legend, Mirko Cro Cop's name in regards off a possible signing.

 "We’ve had several conversations," Coker told the assembled media following Bellator 132. "I’m not sure to what extent he’s ready to come to America and fight, but we’ve had some conversations. I'm definitely interested. If you saw how good he looked in Japan, it was pretty impressive. So we’re going to continue to see how those things go. But these things take time sometimes, and we’ll see."

source: bloodyelbow.com

Junior undergoes surgeries

Former UFC Heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos underwent knee and deviated septum surgery  and It looks like it might be a while until we see the hard hitting"Cigano" back in the cage again. Junior posted a series of pictures on his instagram profile in a hospital bed giving an update on his health.
 "Good morning guys! I would like to let you know that I just had a knee and nose surgery and that went very well. There are some people that a simple thank you doesn't seem to be enough to show them how thankful you are for their help. But I still want to give a special thank to doctor MOISÉS COHEN and his crew who one more time are taking care of me and doctor SERGIO MIRANDA and his crew who did my nose surgery and his daughter MARIA VITORIA. Thank you!"

We last saw Junior go to war against a rising star in Stipe Miocic. Seeing as both fighters are hard hitting heavyweights  who are as tough as tough gets, the outcome was; 5 rounds of blood, sweat, swolen fists and bloodied swolen faces. Junior came out victorious but endured another punishing fight.Taking some time off and recover might just be his best options as of right now.

source:  http://www.bloodyelbow.com

That's it from me for today. My Facebook page is up and running, so go and like that shit right meow. Not mch is happening on it, but this way I'll have an incentive to post content. Oh and I'm rooting for Siver tonight, even though he has zero chances against Connor.  So, until next time. This is Armbar saying; Good fight, good night!

Cocaine Blues

In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, I'm back!

 So I've had some trouble with my Facebook page, but i'll get it up and running again by the end of the day. So feel free to like the fan page. The more people like it the more stuff I'l put on it. 
Today I'll take a look at Jon Jones testing positive for a cocaine metabolite and the surprising lack of consequences that followed. Now, since I'm late with covering this story,  and since by now it's been covered by every possible media outlet. I'm gonna try to make this as short and as simple as possible. So let's get this party started.

Early one mornin' while makin' the rounds

Jon Jones, the greatest light heavyweight the sport of  MMA has ever seen. He holds the record for the most consecutive title defenses in his weight class(8) while only being surpassed by the likes of Georges Saint Pierre(9) and Anderson Silva(10) in  pound for pound title defenses. Ever since his UFC debut in 2008 Jon has been taking the division by storm. Despite being a dominant champ and phenomenal athlete, Jon maintains a reputation of being a very controversial person inside the octagon and out of it.



I took a shot of cocaine and away I run

While the mma world was buzzing about how good Jon Jones looked against fellow rival and former Olympic wrestler, Daniel Cormier, a news that came out of nowhere suddenly spread like wildfire(or like herpes). Jon Jones tested positive for a cocaine metabolite and promptly checked him self into a rehab clinic. The general feeling was that he should be punished or fined to certain degree for failing a drug test.   However, situation was a bit more complicated then it seemed on the surface. 

First of all, according to the NSAC, Jon was never even supposed to be tested for cocaine and the test results weren't from "in fight"(12 hours before the fight and 12 after) so any subsequent punishment from their side wasn't going to happen. Then it was expected for his employers, UFC to administer some sort of fine or at least a criticism directed at their champion. No such thing happened, as UFC's official statement read that they are proud of their champion willingly going to a rehab facility to clean himself up. Even his sponsor, Reebok stood by him and made it seems as if Jones  was donating a kidney and didn't just test positive for a hard addictive drug.

  Jon Jones,  expressing his opinion about my "witty" use of  Johnny Cash's "Cocaine Blues" lyrics as paragraph titles



Lay off that whiskey, let that cocaine be

Now my stance is that Jon entering rehab is nothing more then forced PR. Had he admitted on post fight press conference that he used/uses cocaine and needs to enter a drug treating facility rehab to clear him self of an addiction. I wouldn't have much reason to believe otherwise. However, that is not how this event unfolded. When his test results got released publicly, then he enters a rehabilitation center. It signals predetermination, timing and careful planing. Especially since it looks like Jones' cocaine rehabilitation lasted a single day. Going even further in speculation one could see how using a drug that promotes; loss of weight, increase in body temperature, increased heart rate and aggression, would benefit a person that has to cut weight and fight for a living.  I think it's a fair assumption to make and look it into the issue further then  the "well, we kinda accidentally tested you for that stuff and it wasn't the day of the fight so all is good"  and a pat on the back for checking into rehab. Some kind of investigation and further testing must be done.

                                                     A completely unrelated gif

That's all from me  now. You'll be hearing from me soon, but until then. This is Armbar,  checking out and saying: Good fight and Good night!

You got Punk'd

 Hello everyone, so I wrote this the day after  Christmas. There's a lot of info, I know, but It's an easy and fun read. I  did some searching for Punk's potential opponent. So that should be interesting. Hope you enjoy it. Also, you can now find me on facebook, /armbarsmmaworld . There I'll be posting quick, short news, pictures and videos. While this is gonna be where I'm gonna rant about everything and anything mma related. I'm still pretty green in this blogging thing so go easy on me if you spot any spelling errors or something like that.  So without further ado, I am Armbar. Saying; Good fight and good night. 

                           

Just a regular fight card

On December 6th, the mma fans across the globe  were jumping from joy and anticipation as the best and the brightest  the world of mma has to offer  competed against each other in one the last UFC cards  in 2014, UFC 181. The event  displayed a high variety of great fighting and saw 2 freshly crowned champions  return from injuries and make their first title defenses. UFC's welterweight champion Johny Hendricks faced off  against  Robbie Lawler  for the second time and  lightweight champ Antony Pettis took on Gilbert Melendez. The fight card proved once again that UFC  trully has the best fighters in the world. The greatness of a high quality fight card was quickly overshadowed by a breaking announcement. WWE's former champion CM Punk, at the tender age of 36, signed a multi fight deal with UFC and will be making his octagon( and mma )debut, in the middleweight division, sometime in 2015.

                         

 All eyes on me

To say the announcement raised media and internet attention, would be quite the understatement. Joe Rogan's interview with CM Punk (real name Phil Brooks) , held during the UFC 181 event, as of today( 26.12.14.)  holds half a million (495,500) views on UFC's official youtube channel. Even a special press conference was made,concerning just his signing. So it would be fair to say the story raised quite a few eyebrows. In order to put things into perspective UFC 181 post fight press conf.  highlight with both the new Welterweight champion (R. Lawler) and defending Lightweight champion ( A. Pettis) among other fighters, holds 115, 000 views. The news of Punk's signing  was not met with a lot of positive  words among his new peers and colleagues. CM Punk went from being a former WWE superstar most noted for being the longest reigning(modern day) WWE champion  to the most hated person in  mma over night.   

 It's all Dana's fault

The hate that was generated towards CM Punk seems more then fair at first, considering the UFC is the big leagues, where only „the best of the best“ reside. On the other hand, hating on one particular person for pursuing his dreams and grabbing an opportunity when it presents itself, seems quite silly. If anyone deserves  to be criticized it should be the other most hated person in mma, Dana White. He inadvertently threw a giant slap in the face to everyone of his employees who worked hard for years and dedicated their lives just so they could get a chance to compete against the best in the UFC. Now here comes this 0-0 guy with literally no (none-scripted) fighting experience or any real mma training and gets a shot at the big leagues. It sends a bad message and reduces UFC to a popularity contest. Now this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Couple of months ago, while doing a media scrum, Dana White was all smiles and giggles and bursting with optimism when being asked about a potential Gina Carano signing and a super fight against the champion Ronda Rousey. He was saying that Gina would get an immediate title shot, despite the fact that she; hasn't fought in 6 years, fights in a division above Ronda's, has a history of troubling weight cuts and is coming of a stoppage loss. Going back in time even further, now to 2010, when the former HW and LHW champion Randy Couture fought a PPV main event fight against a HW boxer, James Toney, with a 0-0 mma record. Then there is the  case of the self proclaimed „American Gangster“, Chael Sonnen, who has quite the history of being given undeserved title shots, thanks to his silver tongue. Returning back now to the tail end of  2014, it becomes clear that CM Punk fighting in the UFC, despite lacking the necessary skill set and fight experience needed for such a task, isn't an isolated case. It's the lastest event in a recurring trend. Now with all that being said and done, Punk is signed with the UFC for a mutli fight deal. So, no matter how hard it angers the haters, he will have a fight  in 2015 and there isn't a thing anyone can do about it.

 Prepare for the worst, hope for the best

With each passing day more and more info about Punk's preparations are being leaked and it becomes clear  that he is taking his newly found career path, very seriously. Just like a lot of fighters welcomed Punk with.  Although it was looking likely that he would pick American Kickboxing Academy as his training team, with the likes of Daniel Corimer, Cain Velasquez, Jon Fitch and Khabib Nurmagomedov at his disposal to train with. Punk decided to join team Roufusport as his new „home away from home“ where he will develop his much needed fighting skills. Team Roufusport has some real „hard hitters“ within their ranks. Most notable are Bellator's former and One FC's current WW champion Ben Askern(who was amongst the many fighters who weren't pleased with his signing), UFC's LW champion Anthony Pettis and UFC veteran Alan Belcher. Knowing this, it leaves hope that Punk will not go down in flames  the second he steps foot inside the octagon. Having a good fight camp is very important, because if you surround your self with the wrong people your results could be very limited and you will probably perform very poorly. Likewise, being surrounded with the right people who can sharpen your skills and make you evolve as a fighter and learn constantly can make you a champion.

                       

     left to right; Din Thomas, Tyron Woodley, Ben Askern, Anthony Pettis and CM Punk     

                                                  

 CM Punk vs TBD

Ok, so now that we know where and with who he will  be training and at which weight class he will be fighting. This still leaves the mystery of his „yet-to-be-announced“ opponent  unsolved and everyone and their grandma is dying to find out who will have the honors of introducing Mr. Punk  to the world of mixed martial arts. Shortly after the announcement of Punk's signing, Dana White stated that he(Punk) will start at the bottom and fight his way up, facing at first an opponent Dana described as being a „1-0, 1-2, 1-1“–esque type of fighter that won't have much fight experience. The problem that arises here is that the UFC, in it's entire middleweight division doesn't have a fighter that fits that description. Which would mean that the UFC will have to do a specific „search and sign“ mission and knowingly contract an an inexperienced fighter just so Punk has someone to fight. I would also like to point out that CM Punk doesn't fight for chump change. In the WWE he was getting around a million dollars annually. Him getting anything close to that number per fight would be very, very unlikely but I doubt that he's willing to sell himself short. Brock Lesnar got 250,000 $ for his UFC debut loss against Frank Mir and for his rematch against Frank at UFC 100 he got a cool 400,000 $. Now CM Punk is no Brock Lesnar, but since he is signed purely based on popularity, it's a pretty safe bet to say he will be getting close to what „The Next Big Thing“ got for his debut. Which raises the question does he deserve to get that much money right of the bat? A lot of fighters work their ass off and don't get to see that kind of money until years later in their careers. If they ever get that kind of money. UFC bending over backwards for a single fighter tells alot about the company, but let's not turn this into an angry anti-UFC rant.

"The contestants are..."

So, is there ANYONE  currently signed with the UFC that Punk could fight?

Well, with a little help from UFC's official website, some minor searching and fighter profiling I've managed to find some potential candidates within the UFC's ranks that could end up fighting Mr. Brooks. I narrowed down the list to 4 contractually obligated fighters. My criteria was that the fighter has to have as little fight experience as possible, has to be currently signed with the UFC and has to have no more then  6 or 7 fights, with as many losses as possible. So let's meet our contestants!

                                                                                                                                                                               
                                                     Dan Kelly

   Dan(8-0), looking super excited, has a win on his record by way of throwing his opponent out of the ring

Our first candidate is Dan Kelly, Aussie Olympic judoka with an 8-0 mma record. Unlikely opponent, but he is a grappler and all but two of his victories are submission finishes. Which would mean, Dan would almost certainly take Punk to the ground and try to finish him there. From there Punk would  at least have a good chance to fight back, since he trains BJJ on an on/off basis with the Gracies for some time now. Which would mean he more then likely picked up a few helpful tips and tricks along the way.  

                         

                                          Guilherme Vasconcelos

                             Guilherme(3-2) used to be a model, hence his nickname: "bomba" 

Introducing  our next candidate, Guilherme Vasconcelos a Brazilian and a former "TUF" contestant who is a BJJ based fighter with a 3-2 mma record. This would be the best possible match up for Punk from the current MW roster. Guilherme, a BJJ fighter, would look to take Punk down and submit him. From here Punk can do his magic. It would be a BJJ vs BJJ fight and I'm betting that Punk's "jitz' game" would come into play.  Also in the preparation for this fight he could focus on something he's already good at(BJJ), and not worry all that much about getting into a fist fight and getting KO'd. So that could help him alot to prepare mentally. How good exactly is CM Punks BJJ is a big question mark. He stated that he's still a white belt because he trains very sporadically  but mentioned that he is around blue belt level skill wise, which isn't enough to warranty a win over a skilled BJJ black belt but it's a start. 

                                                          

                                                              Roger Narvaez

                                Roger(7-1) is a fire fighter in the Corpus Christi Fire Department

Next up we got, Roger Narvaez , a well rounded Texan with a 7-1 fight record. Roger is a lengthy fighter who finishes fights with an overall good mma game, his only loss was a last minute call to fight Pat Cummins in a weight class above the one he fights in. So this would be a very dangerous fight for Punk which he would more than likely lose. Let's hope Joe Silva isn't in a sadistic mood and skips over Roger's name when he starts scouting for Punk's first fight. 
Our last two candidates are Antonio Dos Santos and Ricardo Abreu and they mean business. 

                                               

                                                    Antonio Dos Santos

                                               Antonio(6-2) has 3 first round knockout finishes

Antonio Dos Santos is a 6-2 former Jungle Fight LHW champion, he has 4 ko wins and one submission victory. Being a former LHW champ tells me that his is a big dude. Likely has a "walk around" weight at about  220-ish lbs before cutting down to 185lbs. Punk said that he was at around 212 and very out of shape as of  couple of months prior to his signing. Meaning he's gonna be a small middleweight and someone like Antonio with all that mass and ko power behind him would probably make short work of someone like Punk. 

                                                         Ricardo Abreu
                                 

                          lack of sponsorship deals forced Ricardo to stop competing  in BJJ 

Last but not least, we got Ricardo Abreu. Ricardo is a BJJ whizz who prepared Michael Bisping's BJJ for the Vitor Belfort fight. He is a decorated grappler and has 3 back to back, first round, first minute TKO finishes. His fight record stands at 5-0 with 4 of those being all first round finishes. This is another nightmare match up for Punk. Aggressive undefeated, big middleweight grappler who doesn't shy away from striking. Again, his only chances here are if the fight goes to the ground and Punk suddenly gets a confidence boost.

What can we expect from this Punk?

As you can see there isn't a lot of breathing room in the UFC for CM Punk. He's learning to swim in shark infested waters, but there is hope. He seems in no rush to get inside the octagon before being 100%  he can win. He stated that he will make his mma debut  in fall/winter of 2015. which gives him plenty of time to find out what works for him and what doesn't. His fight team is very good. Pettis' TKD and Askern's Olympic wrestling will benefit Punk greatly. I'd bet that he will stop by  more often to the  Gracie's BJJ classes from now on and improve his game. More importantly, he will find out if this is really something he wants to do for a living. There is a realistic chance that once he has his first real sparring session and gets hit with a proper punch he might go „screw this, I'm calling back Vince“ and return to WWE. Unlikely, given his recent statments about WWE, but not impossible. His new found team, Roufusport, has been under a lot of controversy lately becasue of a fighter's death. A lot of former team members have went public and spoken against the aggressive  training nature of the coaches and Punk was very vocal about the amount of  head trauma, injuries and carelessness he endured with his former employer. So maybe it won't take all that much for him to realize that he is, in the words of  Lethal Weapon's Sergeant Murtaugh,  „too old for this shit“. Is CM Punk going to be the next MW champion? I wouldn't bet on it. Can he fight for a living? We don't know. He seems enthusiastic about fighting and giving it a shot and he has realistic expectations about his future career. What does he bring to the table? Well, the major PPV stars are more or less all gone now. GSP is partying it up somewhere in Canada with a octagon return date unknown, Brock Lesnar is still F5ing people(and sharks) every now and then in the WWE for more money and less work (altough the talks about his return are getting louder, now with even Bellator throwing it's name out there for a potential signing), Anderson Silva has a superfight with Nick Diaz coming up on January 31st, but the  aftermath of the Weidman rematch made him sit out the entire 2014 and will likely retire in the near future. The UFC needs ratings and this is where CM Punk steps in. He's been getting a lot of attention since his WWE departure and indications are that he just might bring in some of the WWE crowd and spike up the PPV numbers. Haters will want to see him get humiliated and his fans will want to see him win. This is striking the iron while it's hot. He's already a developed house hold name and the UFC's marketing team won't need much work for his promotion. He knows how to sell himself and the company he works with. Which is exactly what the UFC needs. That's why they took the gamble of signing a former professional wrestler with a very limited  martial arts knowledge, who is gonna be 37 years old by the time he fights. 

      
Final Thoughts

Is this a good idea? Time will tell, but I'm not so sure. If his first fight goes ok, hot of the heels of a UFC win, he will get a step up in competition and from there things get a bit more complicated. Dana will more than likely want to put him up against a well known name(because he will want that golden goose of his to start laying some golden eggs). It will probably be one of the many fighters that called him out when he signed the contract and I'd guess the number of guys that will want to fight him will only increase after his first fight. So let's say it's someone from the bottom of the UFC's top 15 say;  Brad Tavares. Brad is 12-4 and has been fighting professionally since 2007. That is 7 years of fighting experience spread out over 16 fights. That's 15 fights more than Punk will probably ever have. The skill gap between CM Punk and his potential  future opponents becomes very wide once he gets past the „1-0, 1-1, 1-2“ fighter, who ever he may be. Will he be able to make up for  the years and years of fight experience other fighters have on him? I highly doubt it, but I believe he will give it his best and at the end of the day say he followed his dreams and made them come to life.

Boondock's Furious Angels & 3rd Man (Pride FC highlight videos)

Both of these highlight videos were made close to a decade a go and yet hey are as powerful and as breath taking as they were when they were made. They represent a different time in the world of mma. There was something special about Japan's Pride FC that makes you appreciate it for existing, for taking a young combat sport and giving it such lime light and beauty. You will have to look pretty hard today to find organizations that make open weight tournament fights, middleweights fighting heavyweights, were fighters  fight with Gi's on. What  amazes me the  most is that a lot of these fighters still are, or up until recently, were, still active in fighting. I like to think that the guys from the past were cut from a different cloth. They were built to last.  I hope you enjoy the videos.