CM Punk vs. Mickey Gall: Latest Comments, Reaction After Fight Announcement

More than one year after signing with UFC, former WWE superstar CM Punk finally has an opponent for his mixed martial arts debut. 

Mickey Gall, who defeated Mike Jackson by submission at UFC Fight Night 82 on Saturday, has been given the task of challenging Punk, per UFC President Dana White: 

An official date for Punk's UFC debut has not been set, but Damon Martin of Fox Sports noted White said after the event the company is targeting UFC 199 in June, which will be headlined by Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold for the middleweight title. 

Speaking to reporters after his first UFC fight was confirmed, Punk referred to himself as a mystery, per MMA Fighting:

While Punk's MMA skills are unknown, and he's beginning his professional fighting career at the age of 37, Gall may be a bigger unknown. 

The 24-year-old doesn't have an extensive professional resume, as his win Saturday was just the second of his career—and it happened during the UFC Fight Pass portion of the preliminary card—but he oozed confidence afterward. 

Gall told Martin what he expects to happen against Punk: "I'm excited to fight a superstar. I'm going to beat up a superstar. I'm excited for that."

Ben Fowlkes of USA Today posited a theory that Gall's quick victory over Jackson may work to his advantage moving forward:

Bryan Alvarez of Figure Four Weekly questioned the way UFC started promoting Punk's debut:

It's a valid question because Punk is already one of the most popular names in UFC by virtue of his nearly decade-long run in WWE. MMA fans don't like hearing comparisons to WWE because the latter is a sport with predetermined outcomes, but UFC—like WWE—is a business.

But White said on 106.7 The Fan's Grant and Danny radio show Thursday that there's no set plan for the former WWE champion after his first match, per Martin:

"

So CM Punk was a wrestler in the WWE, he was a big fan of the UFC and he ended up leaving the WWE and he said 'Dana, my dream is to fight in the UFC, I want to fight in the UFC, will you let me fight?' so we're giving him a fight. We're bringing in a kid who has obviously a little more experience than he does, if he wins this fight this Saturday he'll be 2-0 and Punk is 0-0. We'll see how it goes for him. He will decide what he wants to do after that.

"

This is certainly a special circumstance for UFC and Punk. He's going to be compared to Brock Lesnar just because, like Lesnar, he's a former WWE superstar transitioning into mixed martial arts. 

Lesnar moved to MMA at the age of 29 in 2006, honed some of his skills in K-1 and then signed a deal with UFC. He also came into the sport at a time when UFC's heavyweight division was in a state of transition, with stars like Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira entering the twilight of their respective careers. 

Punk is nearly a decade older than Lesnar was then, has zero in-ring experience outside of his training and is fighting in a loaded welterweight division. So, he could make this a one-and-done event and say he fulfilled a lifelong dream, which may be anticlimactic for fans given all the hype around his arrival 14 months ago.