CM Punk Loses Return Fight vs. Mike Jackson at UFC 225 in Chicago

CM Punk moved to 0-2 in his UFC career following a unanimous-decision defeat to Mike Jackson on Saturday at UFC 225 at United Center in Chicago.

According to Sherdog, all three judges scored the fight 30-26. Jackson thoroughly outclassed Punk, with many lamenting how poorly the former WWE champion performed:

This may be the last UFC fans see of Punk inside the Octagon. He hadn't fought in nearly two years, and he hasn't shown a ton of progress since his one-sided submission loss to Mickey Gall at UFC 203 in September 2016.

The UFC's decision to sign Punk was always a bit of a head-scratcher because he was 36 when he put pen to paper on his deal with the company in December 2014. He'd need at least a year to train, and even then, he'd be well behind his peers in terms of experience when he was ready to fight.

It looked like Punk's UFC career was over after UFC 203, but a few factors—namely the company's lack of bankable stars—helped justify his return after a lengthy layoff.

Three of the UFC's biggest names from the past few years are either unavailable to fight or out of mixed martial arts entirely. Ronda Rousey is a full-time wrestler in WWE. The California State Athletic Commission revoked Jon Jones' MMA license in February. And Conor McGregor is still dealing with the fallout from his arrest following his outburst at the UFC 223 media day.

Punk carries broad appeal among fans who don't follow the UFC, and putting him on a pay-per-view in his hometown of Chicago was guaranteed to be a moneymaker.

Financially, the CM Punk experiment could be considered a success. He helped generate a solid PPV buyrate for UFC 203, and there's no reason to think the numbers for UFC 225 will offer anything different.

Whether fans would pay to see Punk fight a third time is another matter. The UFC may struggle to find an opponent against whom Punk would have a chance without picking a fighter so outside the norm it alienates the fanbase.

Punk achieved his dream when he made his UFC debut in 2016. Should he want to continue his MMA career, he may have to do so outside of the UFC.