UFC 203: Because CM Punk is finally fighting

[WingedEagle]

Did UFC make any extraordinary money here? Haven't yet heard anything suggesting this fight did numbers beyond what would be expected ex-punk. I didn't think expectations were that high to begin with.

[TravJ1979]

I will forever respect Punk. I don't think he's an ass at all. I think he is honest and genuine to who he is. People said he would never make it in WWE. He not only held the title for the longest amount of time in modern history, he was a main eventer and is still over more than most of the roster and he's been gone for nearly three years. Not only that, he did it while keeping his name, staying true to his character (and himself) and all the while not making any apologies. When he felt it wasn't fun anymore and didn't get his WM main event, he told the most powerful main in wrestling and his hanger-on son-in-law to fuck off. Others who complain about being held down or being unhappy usually continue eating shit or get released.

 

I watched everything leading up to his UFC debut and found him to still be that same person. People think him getting his ass kicked somehow verified all the shit they talked about him. If you think all that negativity bothers Punk in the slightest, you really have no clue. It's not his fault he got this shot as Dana and the Fertitta's could have said, no.

 

People who hate on punk are either jealous, insecure, or both.

[Beast]

If this was any other fighter who never fought before and debuted on UFC and got his ass kicked in 2 minutes without getting any offense of his own and people laughed at him and said he sucked, no one would be complaining about them being overly negative.

 

It was terrible. It was just like everyone expected.

 

Good for him for achieving a dream, but it was a joke.

[PeteF3]

This was essentially Billy Crystal fantasy-camping it up with the New York Yankees, except if it took place in a regular-season game.

 

Who are these people who are "orgasmic" at Punk losing? Are they posting here? Are they spreading outright misinformation or spurring a potential side discussion here? If not, why are we bothering with them?

[FMKK]

There's also the fact that Punk is by most accounts a raging A-hole with an overly high opinion of himself, so maybe it's harder for people to root for that type of guy, especially when he's still fairly terrible at fighting. Pulling that no handshake BS because "I'm here to fight, not shake hands" also doesn't help.

 

Good for him for achieving his dream, but this was the equivalent of a Make-A-Wish kid getting the chance to throw out a pitch at the World Series or ride shotgun in a Nascar race.

 

He was working.

[Matt D]

This was essentially Billy Crystal fantasy-camping it up with the New York Yankees, except if it took place in a regular-season game.

 

Who are these people who are "orgasmic" at Punk losing? Are they posting here? Are they spreading outright misinformation or spurring a potential side discussion here? If not, why are we bothering with them?

 

We would have had one liners if he won and we would have one-liners if he lost.

[PeteF3]

"I still don't understand why I'm supposed to respect him for this. It doesn't take courage to take on a task too big for you to handle, in spite of all the experts saying that could not possibly succeed at this level in that amount of time, and predictably fail at it. There is nothing courageous or honorable about this, he deluded himself into thinking all of the critics were "haters" who were attacking him personally when in reality most of his detractors were right on the money.

It's like if I have a dream of being a great computer scientist one day, so first semester of freshman year I take 400 level CS courses without doing any of the prereqs or having any previous background in math or science whatsoever. Instead I just used my connections to skip ahead of any of the normal barriers that would prevent me from doing this. Who cares, I did some precalc during the summer, anyone who doesn't think I can do this is just a hater. Not trying is the real failure, etc. So when I get a zero on my final do I get credit for just showing up? That doesn't make me brave, it makes me an idiot who ignored expert advice.

The real lesson here, when you strip away all of the hero worship should be that having passion is not enough. Greatness takes years of hard work and dedication and most people can't skip steps. Don't take shortcuts. But fuck that, none of that feels heartwarming the way that "millionaire succeeds in his dream of making 6 figures by getting rolled over and punched around for 2 minutes" does.""

 

--Some guy on reddit, who summed it up much better than I can.

[Mad Dog]

I expected him to lose quickly but that was just a pathetic showing. I have a few friends that train and do amateur fights as a hobby and I'm pretty sure they would have owned him in a similar fashion.

[Coffey]

My biggest issue, from what I have read around various corners of the internet (including my own Facebook Timeline), is people keep saying "he lasted longer than I thought he would!"

 

Really? Two minutes in the first round was that much drastically longer than you "thought" he was going to last? He got taken down, got rocked, gave up his back & got choked out in that time frame. You thought that was all going to happen in thirty seconds instead?

 

It's just so silly.

 

I feel like we're all marks today. We got worked by Dana.

[Zero]

Couldn't have gone much worse for Punk. To think he had the audacity to call Gall's former opponents "cans". Can't say I have much sympathy for people poking fun at the guy.

[Mad Dog]

Couldn't have gone much worse for Punk. To think he had the audacity to call Gall's former opponents "cans". Can't say I have much sympathy for people poking fun at the guy.

 

He didn't get knocked out in 10 seconds is about the best thing you can say for him.

[anarchistxx]

Question: If Conner McGreggor was offered a lot of money by WWE to wrestle Apollo Crews would the same complaints be there about him not paying dues wrestling in ROH, PWG, etc...?

 

Not sure it is strictly equatable.

 

CM Punk taking up MMA and going straight into UFC is the equivalent of Ryan Gosling taking up soccer and going straight into the Manchester United first XI without paying his dues playing in the fifth division. Connor McGregor getting into professional wrestling and going straight into WWE is the equivalent of David Beckham taking up acting and getting a cameo role in a decent film and not paying his dues in art house movies.

 

Still jumping the queue because of celebrity, but somehow less offensive and far less ridiculous.

[anarchistxx]

I don't really buy that this is a lifelong dream of his either. Don't think he ever even mentioned it until he quit the WWE and was at a loss for what do next in his life. CM Punk is known as a arrogant mercenary - isn't it much more likely that he was in UFC for the big pay day and the publicity rather than some sort of burning desire inside him? Nothing wrong with that, of course.

 

There are people for whom fighting in the Octagon is a lifelong dream, and if it was an industry based on merit they would certainly deserve the shot more than some celebrity newcomer. But UFC is a commercial enterprise, and as such people can hardly complain that CM Punk didn't deserve to be brought in if it pops the ratings. If anything it is win-win for the promotion, because it shows just how difficult it is and how tough their fighters are when the presumptuous celebrity gets absolutely decimated.

[DMJ]

There's a pic floating around of Triple H smirking with CM Punk getting his eye worked on in the background on a TV screen. Not sure if it's real or fake, but if it's real, Triple H really is an absolute carny genius because his smile makes my skin crawl and I really loathe how self-satisfied he is.

 

He's also a total moron for this sort of shit because for every time he posts something like this that makes me want to boo him, he does something on-screen to make himself come off as a smark babyface saving the company from a "dreaded Roman Reigns championship run" or positioning himself as the mastermind behind NXT.

[goc]

There's a pic floating around of Triple H smirking with CM Punk getting his eye worked on in the background on a TV screen. Not sure if it's real or fake, but if it's real, Triple H really is an absolute carny genius because his smile makes my skin crawl and I really loathe how self-satisfied he is.

 

He's also a total moron for this sort of shit because for every time he posts something like this that makes me want to boo him, he does something on-screen to make himself come off as a smark babyface saving the company from a "dreaded Roman Reigns championship run" or positioning himself as the mastermind behind NXT.

Please don't work yourself into a shoot over someone photoshopping a pic of HHH to have CM Punk's fight in the background.

[LowBlowPodcast]

Didn't Brock tap in his first UFC fight too?

[Mad Dog]

Brock made a mistake and left his arm exposed after looking like a competent fighter.

[LowBlowPodcast]

Brock made a mistake and left his arm exposed after looking like a competent fighter.

 

That's true and Punk was too overzealous. I do not think he has a future in MMA but I am happy to see him give it a shot. He went in balls to the wall and got outclassed. IF he fights again, I will tune in again... if he doesn't, won't bother me any.

[supremebve]

I just hope this stops all discussion about whether or not pro wrestlers could compete in MMA. I remember someone trying to say that someone like Alberto Del Rio could compete with someone like Conor McGregor, because of the size difference. That is completely absurd. Del Rio was a terrible MMA fighter when he was actually competing, and would get owned in every single way by a fighter as skilled as McGregor despite the size difference. MMA isn't a hobby for UFC caliber fighters. It is a sport that takes incredible dedication and discipline, and that is before you account for athleticism and toughness. CM Punk dedicated his life to training for that fight, and I believe he took it as seriously as he possibly could. He still was dominated by a kid who only had two professional fights. Mickey Gall is someone who started boxing at 13 and has been competing in submission grappling contests for years. This isn't he just tried on a whim, this is his life. The UFC is the NFL of MMA. We'd never assume the kid who was good in your backyard football games could play in the NFL, why do people believe there are random people who can compete in the UFC?

[WingedEagle]

Exactly what supremebve said. This isn't about pro wrestling. This is about MMA. Its preposterous to think that anyone in any athletic shape is going to step into the highest forum of the sport and succeed without even a background in any of the sports / martial arts that are within the scope of the rules.

 

The Brock talk is just silly. Wrestling is a significant aspect of MMA. Success at the higher amateur level in the country is a pretty formidable base upon which to build.

[supremebve]

Exactly what supremebve said. This isn't about pro wrestling. This is about MMA. Its preposterous to think that anyone in any athletic shape is going to step into the highest forum of the sport and succeed without even a background in any of the sports / martial arts that are within the scope of the rules.

 

The Brock talk is just silly. Wrestling is a significant aspect of MMA. Success at the higher amateur level in the country is a pretty formidable base upon which to build.

Brock was the NCAA Champion, and he probably wouldn't be a UFC caliber fighter if he wasn't fighting in the worst division in the sport. The top 5 or so heavyweight mixed martial artists are legitimately great fighters, everyone else in the division has huge gaping holes in their game. I'd be willing to bet Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, and Anthony Johnson would be just as successful, if not more successful at heavyweight as they are at light heavyweight.

[NintendoLogic]

Punk has no combat sports background and was fighting a guy in his weight class. Del Rio is light-years ahead of him as a fighter.

[Matt D]

Wrestling isn't a sport. It shouldn't be classified as a sport. It's way better than sports. People shouldn't compare the two or feel inadequate for whatever reason or overly laud real life toughness as a positive attribute except for in how it assists in artistic presentation. Not in 2016 at least.

[supremebve]

Punk has no combat sports background and was fighting a guy in his weight class. Del Rio is light-years ahead of him as a fighter.

CM Punk was also fighting a guy who wouldn't be in the UFC if he didn't call out Punk at an amateur fight Dana White was at. Mickey Gall is a good prospect, but he'd get owned by damn near every single welterweight in the UFC. He is a good grappler, and seems to have decent hands, but he's at best a bottom tier fighter in the UFC. Mickey Gall is currently ranked at #91 at welterweight according to rankingmma.com. He's 24 and inexperienced, but he's clearly better than anyone who isn't an MMA fighter. He's not that good, but he's much better than a guy who just spent the last couple years dedicating his life to becoming an MMA fighter.

[GOTNW]

Wrestling isn't a sport. It shouldn't be classified as a sport. It's way better than sports.

The problem here is that most wrestlers simply aren't good enough to create something that can realistically mimick the drama of real sports/fights, let alone create something really impressive artistically.