Since Phillip Brooks (Punk) left the WWE a few weeks ago, there has been a lot of speculation as to where he is going to end up. Will he be joining a smaller promotion like TNA or Ring Of Honor? Personally, I think he is too big of a personality and celebrity to move somewhere not as well known as the WWE but time will tell.
He is well known for being an avid fan of mixed martial arts, having based some of his signature wrestling moves around brazilian jiu-jitsu, such as the anaconda vice and the arm wrench. In 2012, he appeared alongside his good friend Rener Gracie on an edition of Gracie Breakdown, where he analyzed and explained the techniques used at UFC 4 between Royce Gracie and Dan Severn.
Many people are hoping he will follow Brock Lesnar and join the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but there are doubts that he is ready for the move. He is a very intelligent athlete and he would not move if he wasn’t 100% ready.
Rener Gracie said that Punk had made remarkable progress whilst training with him over the years and that there would be ‘no limit’ if he was to dedicate himself full time to the sport.
President Dana White was approached about CM Punk during a media scrum and had this to say, “He hasn’t said a word to me. He hasn’t reached out to me. I was with him all night in Chicago, he never said a word about it. He just showed up. We talked about a lot of things, fighting wasn’t one of them. I like him, he’s a great guy. It’s a little late to get into the game, but who knows if he can fight? I don’t know. We’ll see what happens, but I like him a lot. He’s a nice guy.”
It certainly sounds like there is a door open for him to break into professional mixed martial arts but as of yet, nothing is clear to where Brooks will end up. It seems that no one has heard of him since he walked out on the WWE, just days after he competed and finished 4th in the 2014 Royal Rumble.
A promotion such as Bellator could suit him perfectly until he has made a stance in the sport, but I do not think he should join the UFC straight away due to his inexperience.