CM Punk, Marvel comic writer and former WWE star, set for UFC debut in September
Phil "CM Punk" Brooks has written Drax and Thor comics, and now he's about to put his own battling abilities to the test -- for real.
Phil "CM Punk" Brooks' first fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship is set for September 10 at the UFC 203 pay-per-view in Cleveland, Ohio. The news was broken on Thursday on the UFC Unfiltered podcast.
"I will be debuting September 10 in Cleveland," Punk said on the podcast. "I'm super excited, I'm happy to have a date, there's a light at the end of the tunnel."
Punk was a top star in WWE wrestling until January of 2014, when he left the company primarily due to health concerns. Since then, he's found success in the comic book world, writing comics for both Marvel (Drax, Thor) and DC (Strange Sports Stories).
His competing in UFC has been a topic of controversy since he announced he was joining the mixed martial arts organisation 18 months ago, due to his not having any previous professional fighting experience. He was a champion in WWE, where performers simulate combat, but his martial arts expertise was, until 2014, confined to the occasional Brazilian jiu-jitsu class.
Punk becomes both the second comic book artist and the second former WWE star to enter the octagon, following Nate Quarry and Brock Lesnar respectively.
In a remarkable twist -- almost befitting a comic book -- his debut will take place at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena, the same venue at which he infamously stormed out of the WWE (warning: NSFW language).