Randy Couture on what CM Punk could have done differently in his UFC Career. The former WWE Champion had a shortlived MMA Career.
CM Punk is now part of AEW. Between AEW and WWE however, the voice of the voiceless dabbled a bit in Mixed Martial Arts. Punk had two UFC matches, both of which he originally lost. Although, the second of his loss was overturned to a no contest after Mike Jackson tested positive for marijuana.
Also read: Goldberg vs Bobby Lashley rematch date revealed
Punk’s MMA career has since been deemed a failure by many. UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture spoke with The Wrestling Inc. and gave his thoughts on the AEW Star’s shortlived UFC career and how he should have gone about it instead.
Randy Couture on what CM Punk could have done differently in his UFC Career
“The fans can be brutal. That’s just a fact. You’re only as good as your last fight, and that’s how you distinguish your real friends and true people that are in your circle. Fans want to see winners, and they’re very critical. That’s more of an American thing, honestly, than anything else. They’re not so much that way in Japan and some of the other marketplaces. He jumped right in at the highest level, and he kind of tried to pull a James Toney and jump in at the highest level.
“And you got to give James Toney his credit for his boxing credentials but some of that does not translate to MMA, and I think CM did a good job of trying to train, trying to learn as much as he could, but he jumped into fights that were that were, frankly, a little over his head. I think he could have given himself more time to technically train and get some foundation, a solid foundation, for fighting under his belt before he jumped into some of those bigger fights. He may have had a little more success.”
James Toney was a boxer who won multiple championships in three weight classes. He signed with UFC at the age of 42 but only fought one match. His sole fight came against Couture himself. The UFC legend defeated Toney in Toney’s UFC debut via arm-triangle choke in the first round, and Toney was released after backlash over the fight.
To Punk’s credit, he has admitted he was too old when he switched from pro-wrestling to mixed martial arts. He has also said that he should have built his way up in MMA before jumping to UFC.
Click here for more Wrestling News
