Who Will Be CM Punk’s First UFC Opponent? Chael Sonnen Claims He Knows
By now, everyone knows that former WWE wrestler CM Punk has signed with the UFC. But, what everyone doesn’t know is who CM Punk will face in his UFC debut. Well, everyone except for one person, apparently, and that person is former UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen.
There’s been a lot of speculation as to who Punk’s first opponent will be, and a lot of people have been saying that the UFC will probably bring in someone who has almost no professional experience to fight Punk in his debut, hoping that Punk will pick up the win and look strong in his first professional MMA fight.
Well, according to Sonnen, who is a friend of CM Punk’s, the UFC won’t match Punk up with someone who is a bottom-level fighter; rather, they’re going to match him up with one of the top-tier guys, and it will definitely be someone that UFC fans know.
“I have a pretty good idea of who [CM Punk’s] first opponent is. I’m going to keep that close to the vest. It wouldn’t make any sense for him to fight a bottom-tier guy.”
After Sonnen said that in his interview with MMA Mania‘s Michael Stets, Stets pressed Sonnen on the topic, and Sonnen said the following.
“Well, he is not a bottom-tier guy, I can tell you that. You will know who he is, and [Punk’s opponent] will be a pretty heavy favorite to win. Punk is not going to come in as the favorite.”
One of the UFC’s top middleweights, Michael Bisping, issued somewhat of a challenge to CM Punk after Punk’s UFC signing was announced. However, that fight is unlikely as Bisping would destroy CM Punk.
I see @cmpunk wants to kick ass, well he can kiss my ass! Welcome to the Ufc, let's do this! @ufc @danawhite
— michael (@bisping) December 7, 2014
Someone just asked me if is really fight @cmpunk there is literally not a man on this earth that I would not fight.. It's kind of what I do!
— michael (@bisping) December 7, 2014
People asking why @CMPunk well after nearly ten years fighting the very best in the world, I deserve a break hahaha
— michael (@bisping) December 7, 2014
In other CM Punk-related news, the new UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler compare fans doubting Punk to how the fans have doubted him for several years, and encouraged Punk to prove his doubters wrong. Lawler also recruited Punk to join American Top Team, which is where Lawler trains.
Hey .@cmpunk everyone doubted me too. I moved down to @americantopteam and proved them wrong. Come here and do the same
— robbie lawler (@Ruthless_RL) December 9, 2014
Lawler isn’t the only top-tier UFC fighter that has publicly invited CM Punk to join his fight camp, as the number one contender for the UFC light heavyweight championship, Daniel Cormier, invited Punk to join Cormier’s current team, American Kickboxing Academy.
. @CMPunk we've done it before with @herschelwalker (2-0), @akahq is your home. No recruiting pitch needed. I will see u soon. DC
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) December 9, 2014
There have been reports that fighters are recruiting Punk to join their fight camps just so they can beat him out of the UFC before he ever makes his debut. It’ll definitely be interesting to see where Punk ends up, and how he’ll hold up during a fight camp.
[Image via Vice]
