Former WWE champion CM Punk was signed by the UFC in December 2014. The news shocked a lot of MMA fans as he has no MMA record, no prior martial arts background although at 36 years old, he’s been training at the Gracie Academy for the past few years. He’s still a white belt in BJJ, but apparently only because he refuses belt promotions.
UFC fighter & BJJ black belt Cole ‘Magrinho’ Miller says that CM Punk’s ground game is actually at a very high level, so much so that he is better on the ground than 50% of UFC fighters. For Miller, CM Punk’s ground skills will be the key to his success in the UFC.
Cole Miller told Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting about his opinion on CM Punk’s fighting skills:
“This guy doesn’t just have a chance,”. “He’s gonna kick somebody’s ass.”
“I think most MMA fighters don’t have any kind of ground. Most of them aren’t good at all. Even in the UFC. There are plenty of exceptions, but when I say most, I mean more than 50 percent are nothing more than OK blue belts on the ground. I would rate CM Punk definitely above that.”
Michael Bisping on the other hand thinks that Punk will be ridiculed in the UFC:
“I respect anybody that has the cojones to step inside an Octagon but if you’re coming from a professional wrestling background like he is, y’know, this isn’t ‘story time’ with mum and dad, this is the real thing. He’s gonna learn pretty hard and pretty fast that this was a gigantic mistake on his behalf,”
We will see in a few months time, once CM Punk makes his MMA debut.
