Source: UFC Unfiltered
CM Punk talked about his upcoming fight at UFC 203 on September 10, 2016 on episode 2 of UFC Unfiltered. Punk will make his UFC debut against Mickey Gall at the event. Punk addressed his present health status, how he measures up to Gall, whether he doubted he would ever fight for UFC, and how he has stayed positive during his rocky transition from WWE to UFC.
Apparently, Punk suffered from herniated discs for years unbeknownst to him.
“I got cleared by my doctor [Tuesday] morning for everything and I’ve been cheating a little bit on that rule anyway for the past month, but it’s nice to be healthy.” Punk admitted, “I hit a brick wall with my back and found out I’ve been walking around with herniated discs for probably years, the doctor assumed. So, it’s a whole new world for me now. I’m healthy and it’s nice to do things I haven’t been able to do fully for a couple of years.”
While Punk and Gall appear to be similar fighters in size and reach, Punk had to acknowledge the fact that Gall has the edge in terms of MMA experience.
“Body weight, height, reach, everything like [that], I think we’re almost identical. Experience goes to him. He [has] fought in The Octagon and other places and I haven’t. He’s a nice guy. I talked to him very briefly at his debut and I felt bad about that setback and he [has] been kind of sitting on the sidelines, but here we are now. I think he’s a tough kid, but also his fights have been pretty short. You don’t really get to see all of his skills.”
According to Punk, he never doubted whether he would ever fight for UFC, though his injury woes were a cause for concern.
“The worry of that definitely crept into my head, but I tried to stay positive and I don’t think you can kind of dwell on the negative. I mean, the back surgery thing is a bum out. Anytime you have a surgery and you’re an athlete, it f–king sucks. And then, there [are] the months of rehab where I couldn’t do anything.” Punk added, “but I never thought that it was over. I never thought that I wasn’t going to make it to a fight. I never thought I wasn’t going to fight. I tried to stay positive.”
Punk professed that social media hate can cause people to become depressed, as millions of people can tweet negative and hurtful comments. Punk went on to say that he is prepared for the fact that he will not be given credit if he is victorious in his UFC debut, as detractors will dismiss the win as UFC stacking the deck in Punk’s favor, but he will be criticized if he loses.
“You can get in a bad place in your own head about that and I would much rather listen to my wife, my friends, my trainers, [or] my team. I’m not the best at this. No s–t! I know that. I want to give it a f–king shot and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. As far as actual fighters in the UFC, I’ve seen stuff on Twitter. Some guys have said stuff and have been nice to my face.” Punk continued, “but I understand both points of view. I really do. I understand some of these guys that aren’t making what they probably should make and they see a guy like me come in and quasi get the red carpet pulled out for me. At the end of the day, it’s still going to be a f–king fistfight. And if I lose, they’ll f–king laugh at me on Twitter. And if I win, f–k yeah, good for me. Sure, if I beat Mickey, [naysayers will say] ‘Mickey sucks’. If Mickey beats me, [naysayers will say] ‘haha LOL – go back to WWE’. Like, and that’s why you can’t invest any of your time in that.”
