CM Punk‘s quick UFC exit in his first professional fight against Mickey Gall hasn’t scared off UFC’s competition from wanting to sign the former WWE champion. Bellator MMA President Scott Coker has indicated that he would be interested in signing former WWE Champion CM Punk. Punk (0-1) is currently still under contract to UFC, and he noted before his UFC 203 loss that he had signed a multi-fight deal with the organization. UFC President Dana White recently went on record saying he was unsure about Punk’s future, and noted that the UFC is a tough place to start out an MMA career.
In a recent interview with Newsweek, Coker made it known that he wants to meet with Punk when he’s legally able to. “If he was free from any obligations and wanted to fight under Bellator, we would definitely love to have a conversation with him,” Coker said, adding that he had heard Punk is still under UFC contract.
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Fellow former WWE star Bobby Lashley currently fights for Bellator with an MMA record of 15-2, and there have been talks of Coker trying to sign Ryback.
While it may seem crazy to want to sign a fighter who clearly is years behind the competition he is facing in the octagon, Punk still carries a tremendous amount of name value.
UFC 203 ppv buys was reportedly somewhere in the market of 500,000, which puts it among the company’s top performers. If Punk does compete in another UFC contest and loses, that value could decrease.
Despite Punk’s insistance that he is done with wrestling, he could always go back to the WWE. No matter how strained the relationship may seem now, the constant chants of Punk’s name make it clear that as long as he can draw inside the squared circle, there will be a place for him to return.
