Mike Jackson
Age: 33
Nationality: American
MMA Record: 0-1
UFC Record: 0-1
Notable Wins: None
Notable Losses: None
Last Fight: Submission loss to Mickey Gall
Fighter Profile: An MMA journalist who was called in with minimal experience to fight Mickey Gall, Jackson didn’t fare well at all in his UFC debut as he lost via submission and didn’t show much in the way of skill in that fight. He does have a boxing and kickboxing background so he has some striking skills but we haven’t seen those on display yet in the UFC. Jackson is pretty lucky he is even getting a second fight in the UFC, and for his sake hopefully it goes better for him than that debut fight against Gall.
CM Punk
Age: 39
Nationality: American
MMA Record: 0-1
UFC Record: 0-1
Notable Wins: None
Notable Losses: None
Last Fight: Submission loss to Mickey Gall
Fighter Profile: A former WWE superstar, Punk decided to try his hand at MMA a few years ago and the results so far have not been good. He looked like he didn’t belong anywhere near a cage in his debut fight against Mickey Gall and there’s no reason to think he has improved much since then. He’s pushing 40, has suffered numerous concussions in his career, and at this late in the game it’s hard to see him developing much in the way of the skillset needed to compete in MMA, let alone at the highest level of this sport.
Fight Breakdown: Honestly, this fight is a complete joke and it’s a shame that it’s getting main card placement over quality fights like Alistair Overeem vs. Curtis Blyades, Claudia Gadelha vs. Carla Esparza and Joseph Benavidez vs. Sergio Pettis. I don’t have much respect for CM Punk at all as I believe he’s just a rich guy who wanted to try his hand at fighting and is using his past name value as a WWE superstar to take a shortcut in MMA and skip the line to the UFC. As for Jackson, at least he has some sort of a combat sports background, although he obviously shouldn’t be in the UFC either. As far as this matchup goes, it’s two guys who looked terrible in their UFC debuts going up against one another, and this fight could feature the least amount of skill in a UFC fight since the dark ages of the sport. Both guys have very questionable ground games and haven’t shown much in the way of striking, although Jackson does have a striking background. I just think CM Punk is a complete joke and I can’t see him winning this fight unless it’s a fixed fight. He looked absolutely horrible in the fight with Gall and while Jackson didn’t fare much better at least he has some amateur experience from the past to fall back on. I think Jackson just beats up Punk on the feet and on the ground and finishes him in a really sloppy fight that should not be on pay-per-view. Hopefully once this is over it’s the last time we ever have to hear about CM Punk in MMA again.
Prediction: Mike Jackson via TKO
