In early 2013, Ronda Rousey was the hottest ticket in town, headlining her first major pay-per-view (PPV) event and anointing herself the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s bantamweight champion with a submission victory over Liz Carmouche. That was just a few days after CM Punk completed his record-setting World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Championship title reign of 434 days.
No one could have ever predicted they would eventually switch places.
But alas, here we are, and Rousey is fresh off her WrestleMania debut, while Punk returns to the Octagon to battle Mike Jackson at the UFC 225 mixed martial arts (MMA) event this Saturday night (June 9, 2018) in Chicago, Illinois. No telling if “Rowdy” had any words of wisdom for “The Straight-Edge Superstar,” but we do know what Punk told Rousey.
“The only thing I told her was to just have fun,” Punk told the MMA media (via MMA Fighting). “I don’t know what it’s like back there in this current environment. I know she’d probably get treated differently, just as I know I probably get treated differently here. The only thing I ever told her is, ‘I know you’ve got a lot of people telling you, do this, don’t do this’ — whatever you do, when you go out there for WrestleMania, make sure you have fun. Period.”
Rousey received glowing reviews for her in-ring debut last April (more on that here), while Punk has spent the past two years trying to erase the memory of his UFC 203 destruction at the hands of Mickey Gall. He’ll get that chance when the equally-hapless Jackson joins him in the Octagon this weekend in “The Windy City” (preview). It’s a spot that “demoted” a couple of heavyweight contenders, but that’s life in the amateur circuit fast lane.
For much more on UFC 225 click here.
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