– Taz posted the audio above talking about CM Punk signing with the UFC. It should be noted that it is not the first episode of his new podcast, Human Podcast Machine, which drops on January 7th. During the podcast, Taz talks about the timing with CM Punk’s shoot interview with Colt Cabana, Vince McMahon appearing on Steve Austin’s podcast and UFC announcing that they signed CM Punk. Taz speculates that given the timeline, perhaps WWE was involved with the UFC announcement. It’s an interesting listen.
– The list of would-be fighters who want to face CM Punk for his UFC debut continues to grow. As noted earlier, MMA fighter Jason David Frank, better known as the Green Power Ranger, has been challenging Punk to an MMA fight for years and immediately called him out on his Facebook page following the Punk – UFC announcement. FOX Sports has an article about Frank’s challenge here.
“Jason’s actually been kind of toying with the idea of fighting CM Punk for over a year now,” Frank’s manager Brian Butler from Suckerpunch Entertainment told FOX Sports on Sunday. “They toured together on the Wizard World conventions and they were doing appearances together and the fans were kind of talking about it and it got some buzz about a year ago. It never really died down, but with the announcement it flared back up.
“I got a text message from Jason right away saying ‘he wants to fight at middleweight, too, I’d love to do it, he got away from me’ just kind of joking around. But actually it makes a lot of sense.”
– IGN has an article about Frank wanting to fight Punk here, while Tech Times has a story about it at this link.
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Source: JR’s BBQ
Jim Ross posted his latest blog at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are a few highlights:
UFC signing CM Punk:
“UFC scored a walk off grand slam with @DanaWhite’s signing of former WWE superstar @CMPunk. The signing itself was a major news maker plus the ability to document Punk’s training for his first fight which is still TBA should make for great TV on Fox. Punk has long been an aficionado and student of MMA having trained in Muay Thai and Gracie Ju Jitsu. The 36 year old will likely become obsessed in his training and is used to being considered an under achiever which will serve as a motivator for the former WWE World Champion as many MMA diehards who want to see Punk get beaten to a pulp and every wrestling fan who wants to see the Chicago born fighter succeed.”
How Punk signing with UFC affects Brock Lesnar:
“Punk, unlike Brock Lesnar, isn’t a former NCAA All American or a D1 National Champion but his heart and passion may tell another story. If UFC plays there cards strategically, Punk’s PPV debut will add greatly to any under card that is booked. The curiosity factor to invest in Punk’s first PPV will be big time. Speaking of Lesnar, Punk signing with UFC adds another wrinkle to the potential negotiations with Lesnar and UFC and/or Bellator. Interesting days lie ahead as it relates to contract negotiations. Punk signing with UFC helps Lesnar’s leverage without question.”
His latest podcast with Bob Holly:
“The @TheBobHolly podcast on the Ross Report has been nothing short of spectacular. If you haven’t heard it I strongly suggest that you do and download for free at podcastone.com. Downloading and subscribing to the Ross Report is FREE and your subscriptions help us greatly and, again, cost you nothing.”
Much more is contained in Ross’ latest blog, including more on CM Punk to the UFC, how Punk’s first UFC PPV will fare, tonight’s RAW, WWE’s crazy week and much more.