Is This CM Punk’s First UFC Opponent?

Cathal “The Punisher” Pendred is claiming he’s going to be the man to welcome Phil “CM Punk” Brooks into (and out of) the UFC. If Pendred’s name sounds familiar, that’s because he was on season 19 of The Ultimate Fighter, and he’s also the man that rescued a baby dolphin that got stranded on a beach. Pendred is currently 15-2-1, on a nine fight win streak, with a total of six knockout and one submission stoppages on his record. That’s certainly a step up from the 0-0 or 1-0 guys Dana White said would be going in against Punk.

Of course, according to noted lie guy Chael Sonnen, Punk isn’t going to be facing some unknown scrub. In an interview with MMA Mania, Sonnen said:

“I can tell you this, it doesn’t make any sense to put him against an older guy or an unknown guy.

For the money that you got to pay him and the attention that is going to bring, he is likely to lose. It does not make sense to do the build up and have him lose to a guy that cannot gain momentum in his own career. If you are going to give a guy a push and put him on a main card or co-main spot, which is where I think they are going to end up. You have to give it to a guy that if he wins and he is expected to win, than he can go on and do something. You can’t pay Punk the numbers you are paying him and then try and let it coast. You just can’t do it. I think you stick him on a pay-per-view and you have some fun with it and you let him have some fun with it. I think that is what this is about.

I have a pretty good idea who his opponent is.

I’m going to keep that close to the vest. It would not make sense to give him a bottom-tier guy.

Well he is not a bottom-tier guy, I can tell you that. You will know who he is and he will be a pretty-heavy favorite to win. Punk is not going to come in as the favorite.”

Only time will tell if Chael and Cathal are correct.

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