After 19 months, CM Punk finally gets a date for his long-awaited professional mixed martial arts debut.
The former WWE superstar will be facing Mickey Gall (2-0) in a welterweight bout on Sept. 10 at UFC 203 in Cleveland, the company announced Wednesday.
CM Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, left the world of professional wrestling in early 2014. He on Colt Cabana’s “Art of Wrestling” podcast, from his frustration with the company’s direction and having his ideas taken and repackaged for other wrestlers, to not being able to have time to recover from injuries.
Brooks, 37, signed with the with the intention of making his debut in 2015, but various injuries caused delays.
He isn’t the only WWE star to dabble in the MMA world. Brock Lesnar, who will fight at UFC 200, became the UFC heavyweight champion in 2008. Dave Batista, who also starred as Drax in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” had one fight with CES MMA in 2012. Alberto Del Rio had an extensive career, finishing with a record of 9-5 with various promotions from 2001-10.
Hello Cleveland!
— player/coach (@CMPunk)
