37°F
weather icon Clear
Las Vegas, NV
MMA UFC

UFC signs pro wrestler CM Punk for 2015 MMA debut

ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 6, 2014 - 8:52 pm
 
“We have no business doing drug testing," UFC president Dana White said, In the wake of the fiasco over Cung Le's drug tests in Macau, the UFC abandoned plans to implement its own year-round drug testing program. White is shown here at a news conference at The Smith Center in Las Vegas in November. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

The UFC has signed professional wrestler C.M. Punk, and he intends to make his mixed martial arts debut in 2015.

President Dana White announced the deal during the UFC 181 pay-per-view show Saturday night.

Punk’s real name is Phil Brooks, and he is a 36-year-old career pro wrestler from Chicago.

Brooks performed in the WWE from 2011 until early this year, when he left the company.

The UFC realizes the publicity value of signing pro wrestlers with a modicum of MMA skills. Famed pro wrestler Brock Lesnar became the UFC’s biggest pay-per-view star when he entered the promotion in 2008.

He defeated Randy Couture and held the UFC’s heavyweight championship for nearly two years. After two losses, he returned to pro wrestling in 2012.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
MORE STORIES
THE LATEST
The UFC has new owners of two buildings they occupy in the Southwest valley. (Colliers)
UFC-occupied buildings in Las Vegas sell for $23.6M
By Patrick Blennerhassett / RJ

The off-market sale was brokered by Colliers and features two buildings which are 70 percent occupied by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Dana White, president of UFC, speaks at a news conference after the UFC 229 mixed martial arts ...
UFC reaches $375M settlement in class-action lawsuit
By Mark Anderson The Associated Press

The UFC reached another settlement with one of the two class-action litigants, agreeing Thursday to pay the former fighters $375 million after a previous agreement was thrown out by a Nevada district judge.