UFC President Dana White Shoots Down CM Punk Rumor

Former WWE Superstar CM PUnk hasn’t stepped inside the Octagon in over a year and a half. And while rumors of his return have been spreading over the past couple of weeks, UFC president Dana White has nothing set in stone yet.

White appeared on UFC Tonight on Fox Sports 1 on Wednesday night and was asked about a report that the promotion was looking to have Punk take on Mike Jackson, a fellow welterweight with a 0-1 record. The fight was rumored to take place at UFC 225, which is set to take place at the United Center in Punk’s hometown of Chicago.

“I don’t know. I don’t know that’s where he’ll fight,” White said. “He’s healthy now and interested in fighting. We’ll see what happens. There is no deal for CM Punk to fight anywhere, so we’ll see how that thing plays out.”

Punk famously walked out on the WWE in January 2014 for a variety of reasons, including what he claimed was the company’s medical staff ignoring several issues that he claimed were rather serious. He signed with the UFC in December 2014 to a multi-fight contract despite having no previous mixed martial arts experience and joined the Roufusport Fight Team in Milwaukee, the home to multiple UFC champions.

Punk finally made his debut at UFC 203 in Cleveland in September 2016 against newcomer Mickey Gall. He lost two minutes into the first round via submission when Gall locked in a rear-necked choke.

White spoke on Punk’s future with the promotion back in January.

“I like that guy. He’s a good dude,” White said in an interview with the New York Post. “He wants one more. He wants to get another shot. I’m going to give it to him.”

In February the UFC announced it would be headed to Chicago for the UFC 225 pay-per-view event in June. Punk took to his Twitter and teased that he could be at the event by retweeting the announcement with an eyes emoji pointing at the poster.

Photo: Twitter/@ArielHelwani