Almost two years after officially singing with the UFC, former WWE champion CM Punk will finally make his debut for the UFC tonight in Cleveland at UFC 203.
Punk, who has zero amateur or professional MMA fights under his belt, will be facing Mickey Gall, another newcomer to the MMA world who has a 2-0 record. Gall had to win his first fight in the UFC to get his shot against CM Punk. The fight was originally slated for earlier this year however back surgery pushed the fight back a few months. At the weigh-ins yesterday, Punk clocked in at 170lbs and looked pretty good, possibly better than his WWE days.
The show will be held at the Quicken Loans Arena, a not-so-popular arena for Punk due to the many mishaps so to speak that occurred there during his WWE career. The event is headlined by Stipe Miocic vs Alistair Overeem for the UFC Heavyweight title. Punk’s fight is the third one from last on the card.
Not surprisingly, Punk is the underdog for his first fight and is at 7/2 to win while Gall is at 2/9 to get his third MMA win. Punk is also at 9/2 for a win via KO, TKO, DQ, or submission and 9/1 to win by a decision. The odds are even bigger when going by round, where he’s 22/1 for a win in round one, 50/1 for a win in round two, and 80/1 for a win in round three.
There are several sportsbooks which are offering the ability to bet on tonight’s event. Please remember to gamble responsibly.
