By now, most MMA and WWE fans know that CM Punk is going to finally, at long last, make his UFC debut at UFC 203 on September 10. Punk’s opponent will be the 23-year-old Mickey Gall, who is 2-0 in his young MMA career. Gall campaigned to get the fight against Punk and was hand-picked to be the former WWE star’s first opponent. But somewhat hilariously, Gall wasn’t all that familiar with who Punk actually was when he asked to fight him.
This past week, Gall appeared on the “Welcome to Connecticut” podcast to talk about his upcoming fight and he had this to say about his opponent (transcript via Wrestling Inc.):
“To be honest, I was not very familiar [with CM Punk]. I guess I knew his name the same way I knew who, like, John Cena was when he was wrestling. I was a [professional] wrestling fan when I was little. I was a ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin fan, but I got into middle school and did other stuff. Do you know what I mean? I fell out of touch with wrestling. And then I started hearing about him in UFC, that he was going to have a UFC fight. I never really thought that I’d be the guy matched up with him. Then, when Dana White ends up at my fight, I was like, ‘let me just say this guy’s name and see what happens.'”
One can imagine that the notoriously outspoken Punk would be a bit irked at his opponent not being intimately familiar with his work. But then again, he probably admire’s Gall’s honestly. And let’s be real: Punk probably doesn’t give a whole lot of craps either way. C’est la Punk.
With Brock Lesnar’s triumphant UFC return behind us, expect to hear a whole lot more about Punk’s Octagon debut over the next few months. It’s officially the late summer/early fall of Punk, part three.
(Via Wrestling Inc.)
