CM Punk's UFC Debut: Definitive Timeline of Ex-WWE Star's Long Road to UFC 203

The day is nearly upon us. Five-time world champion in the WWE CM Punk is finally, finally going to step into the Octagon at UFC 203 on Saturday. 

Nearly three years removed from professional wrestling and two years removed from his initial signing with the UFC, the man also known as Phil Brooks has had a long, difficult journey. There have been mysteries, there have been pitfalls, there have been lawsuits and there have been nonstop questions.

With that in mind, it's worth taking a look at how Punk has gone from a top star in professional wrestling to one of the most divisive figures in MMA. Here is the definitive timeline of the long road to his UFC debut.

August 18, 2013: CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2013

CM Punk inhabits a strange place in WWE history. He's an amazing professional wrestler and produced some of the most memorable moments in the company from 2010 to 2013. He was long one of the most popular stars and achieved a number of accolades including five world-title reigns (one of them being the longest in modern WWE history).

But he was never, ever "the guy," be it in terms of storylines or promotion.

He was never the "strongest" wrestler, winning many of his biggest matches via technicality while often assuming the role of cowardly heel. He was never the face of the company, a role that was (and still is) reserved exclusively for John Cena. He was never the biggest draw, frequently finding himself outside of pay-per-view main events, even while holding the title.

His popularity and resume made him one of WWE's bigger names. The lack of support from decision-makers, however, held him back from ever being the biggest.

That resulted in Punk taking on something of a "jobber to the stars" role. He would beat the Rybacks and the Daniel Bryans, sure. But whenever a big-name part-timer showed up, Punk was the designated loser.

It happened with Triple H. It happened with The Undertaker. It happened with The Rock. And at SummerSlam 2013, it happened with Brock Lesnar.

That loss, in many ways, cemented his place outside the main event level and, for someone as proud as Punk, that just wasn't acceptable.

January 26, 2014: The 2014 Royal Rumble

CM Punk's last WWE match was the 2014 Royal Rumble, where he put in 49 minutes of work only to be unceremoniously eliminated by Kane. While it wasn't clear on-screen at the time, Punk was dissatisfied with his place in the company and was emotionally exhausted after nursing a variety of injuries over the course of several years.

According to Punk in an interview, the last straw was a concussion he said he received during the match from Kofi Kingston, who entered the ring with his signature rolling clothesline. Looking back on it, it is clear Punk did suffer an injury from the move as Kingston, and later Cody Rhodes, stopped offensive advances toward him for no apparent reason.

While he bears no ill will toward Kingston, a friend with whom he won a tag team title in 2008, he took issue with Dr. Chris Amann's handling of it and the company's indifference toward the many maladies that come from decades of professional wrestling.

He would walk out of the company that night after a meeting with Vince McMahon and Triple H, not appearing on Raw or SmackDown, and having his name pulled from other scheduled appearances.

November 26, 2014: Punk Makes a Number of Startling Revelations to Colt Cabana

(Warning: Video contains NSFW language.)

Despite the fact that Punk was spinning his wheels in the midcard ahead of the 2014 Royal Rumble, he was still one of the most popular names on the roster. That made his continued absence from the company one of the biggest mysteries of 2014. 

Well, on November 26, Punk sat down with podcasting professional wrestler Colt Cabana in a two-hour-long tell-all interview on The Art of Wrestling. Much of it was focused on his frustration with his direction in the company (including his frustration with the aforementioned loss to Lesnar and his tense meeting with McMahon and Triple H). Along the way, however, he made a number of startling accusations, including:

• WWE doctor Chris Amann was previously "leaning on" him to continue working while concussed.
• Amann refused to treat a staph infection because it may have required stitches, which would have required Punk to take time off.
• The WWE fired him on the day of his wedding to fellow WWE wrestler AJ Lee. 
• The WWE was withholding royalty checks from him.

It was shocking, it was revealing, it was controversial and it made Punk, whose name was already buzzing, the most talked-about man in combat sports.

December 6, 2014: UFC Announces the Signing of CM Punk

Despite not wrestling much, 2014 was arguably the biggest year of Punk's entire career in terms of attracting mainstream attention. As for the UFC, despite putting on over 40 events, it was unarguably the worst year for the company since the early days of Zuffa, with pay-per-view numbers* taking a nosedive, television viewership slipping and Bellator gaining ground after appointing Scott Coker its new president.

The buzz surrounding Punk and the struggles of the UFC combined for a never-before-seen signing.

The UFC was never above a cheap cash grab, of course. The company picked up Sean Gannon due to his short-lived internet fame after he beat Kimbo Slice in a street fighting video, and it brought aboard James Toney for an embarrassing one-off fight with Randy Couture. Still, it was an utterly hypocritical move for a company that ran down EliteXC for years due to its promotion of Slice and tore into Strikeforce for bringing in Herschel Walker.

As for Punk, outside of the simple fact that he had signed, there were no details about when he would fight, who he would fight or how many times he would fight. After just 10 days of clarity, he was once again shrouded in mystery.

*Per Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via MMAPayout.com)

December 31, 2014: CM Punk Joins Roufusport

When CM Punk put pen to paper with the UFC, he was a completely blank slate. While most UFC fighters enter the company with a body of work, a solid professional record or some proficiency in a martial art, Punk did not.

He owns an MMA record of 0-0. He has no legitimate sports background. He isn't a standout athlete. He hadn't even trained yet. Punk had 20 years of catching up to do, and a number of top gyms courted him. Ultimately, Punk chose to enlist the help of high-profile coach Duke Roufus.

Roufus' gym, Roufusport, has produced a number of top fighters over the years, and it had the infrastructure to help him advance as much as possible. Of course, questions still linger about how much a coach like Roufus can do for someone with absolutely no experience. That question will just have to be answered at UFC 203.

February 20, 2015: WWE Doctor Chris Amann Sues CM Punk, Colt Cabana

The WWE, like most sports organizations, has an ugly history when it comes to its handling of concussions. As Cageside Seats' Keith Harris detailed, the company pleaded ignorance on wrestlers sustaining head injuries, routinely attacked anyone that suggested that professional wrestling directly contributed to conditions like CTE and faced many accusations over the years of ignoring potential health risks in its wrestlers in order to keep the company plugging along.

Punk's claims on The Art of Wrestling directly fed into that perception and cast all the promotion's employees in a negative light. With a lawsuit coming down the pipeline threatening to pull all the skeletons out of the WWE's closet, that apparently wouldn't do.

On February 20, 2015, word broke that Amann had filed a defamation lawsuit against CM Punk and Colt Cabana for upward of $1 million. 

Where the truth lies is anyone's guess—Punk was clearly speaking from a place of frustration in the interview, while the WWE is a publicly traded corporation that will protect its interests at almost any cost—but according to Punk, the WWE's lawsuit has nothing to do with the truth.

In a filing obtained by PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson, Punk's legal team states:

"

Brooks is informed and believes that the Plaintiff collaborated, coordinated and conspired with the WWE in bad faith to prepare, bring and pursue this lawsuit in retaliation against Brooks and ['Colt Cabana' Scott] Colton for the embarrassment that the Podcast caused the WWE... Further, Brooks is informed and believes that the Plaintiff cooperated with the WWE in the preparation and improper release of the alleged results of a supposed investigation concerning Brooks' confidential and private medical information on the day after the Plaintiff filed this Complaint, which purported to support certain allegations in Plaintiff's Complaint and to dispute and contest certain statements made by Brooks in the course of the Podcast.

"

Time hasn't changed this, either, as Punk recently alluded to in an interview with Inside MMA. 

The legal battle is still ongoing, and it could easily drag out deep into the future.

October 5, 2015: Shoulder Injury Announced

(Warning, NSFW Language)

MMA is a dangerous business, and injuries are commonplace. Punk learned that well in 2015 when he threw out his shoulder training. 

"He got caught in a scramble, so right now he's taking a little time off," Roufus told ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto. "He was doing great before that. ... Our biggest thing is we want him to 101 percent before [we resume training]. We don't have a hard date for his fight to force the issue, so making sure he's completely healthy is possible."

While that news wasn't big in retrospect, it seemed like a calamity at the time. The initial proclamations declared that Punk was going to fight "in 2015." While becoming fight-ready in under 12 months was an unrealistic expectation for someone like Punk, it led to questions about whether Punk's UFC career was less than legitimate.

Was he ever going to fight? Was he taking this seriously? Was he even physically capable of withstanding the rigors of full-time MMA training?

Those questions lingered for months and, to this day, still bubble up.

February 6, 2016: Punk's Opponent Decided

While there were questions about Punk's health and motivation, the most important question was whether the UFC could even accommodate a fighter like him.

The UFC, for its many forays into freak-show territory, is largely populated by legitimate competitors with numerous bouts on their records and accolades outside of MMA on top of that. Punk didn't have any of that. No amateur fights, no professional fights, no black belts, no NCAA wrestling credentials.

There was a strong chance that Punk wouldn't even be able to get licensed for his fight, and there was next to zero chance that a fight against anyone on the UFC's roster at the time would be approved by a commission.

With that in mind, the UFC looked outside the promotion and turned a show based on highlighting how fun and wacky UFC President Dana White is into a show about finding Punk an opponent.

Its top candidate was Mickey Gall, a fighter spotted by White on the regional circuit making his pro debut. With White in the audience, Gall called for a fight with Punk. White signed him and offered him Punk on the condition that he first defeat fellow UFC newcomer Mike Jackson. They faced off at UFC Fight Night 82, with Gall taking the win via submission in just 45 seconds.

After the fight, Punk entered the cage and looked his foe square in the eyes. While a date for their fight wasn't announced, many expected it to be the first fight announced for July's blockbuster UFC 200 event.

February 10, 2016: CM Punk Suddenly Undergoes Back Surgery

With Gall picking up a win at Fight Night 82, the next course of action seemed pretty clear: set up Punk vs. Gall for UFC 200. 

The move made perfect sense. UFC 200 was designed to be a megacard that appealed to every subsection of MMA fandom, and Punk was specifically brought in for his appeal to the pro wrestling converts. With the rematch between Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm off the table, the UFC needed something big to really kick off the build to UFC 200, and Punk vs. Gall would have generated headlines like few other fights.

Alas, the fight was taken off the table when, four days after stepping into the cage to face off with Gall, Punk underwent back surgery for a herniated disk.

"I felt like s--t about it. I wanted to tell everybody, but it was also a case of let's just see where this goes and see what happens," he told The MMA Hour's Ariel Helwani in March (via Shaun Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting). "I got the MRI Friday night and I was literally diagnosed Saturday, right before I walked out to watch Mickey and Michael Jackson fight."

The news once again reignited the questions about whether Punk would, or even could, go through with competing in MMA, and it once again pushed his debut past a presumptive benchmark. Luckily, Punk's back surgery would go off without a hitch, and he returned to training in the summer. 

Unfortunately, Punk vs. Gall wouldn't be the only fight that fell through for UFC 200...

June 23, 2016: Date Announced for CM Punk vs. Mickey Gall

As the 18-month mark came and went and news was nonexistent about a debut for Punk, the "he's never going to fight" discussion became louder than ever. And rightly so.

The interview on his back surgery seemed incredibly pessimistic in regard to his future prospects. Then, out of the blue, the announcement came on the inaugural episode of UFC Unfiltered. Punk would face Gall at UFC 203.

"I think there's probably something seriously wrong with me," he said jokingly (via Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting). "Everyone is trying to figure out why I would want to do this. I'm a guy who gets bored easily and I have goals and there's things in life I enjoy. It's not about the destination; it's about the journey."

Fans, pundits and bettors are all heavily favoring Gall at this point due to his dominance in his first two fights and less-than-reassuring footage of Punk training surfacing on television and social media. According to Odds Shark, Punk currently sits as high as a +400 underdog, with Gall being as large as a -500 favorite.

Still, the fight is a compelling one. With so much build and so many questions about who Punk is as a fighter, how far he could have come and how it could go...how could it not be?