MMAOB Submission: Did UFC dog bettors & fans get Punk’d?

Count me as one of CM Punk’s biggest fans, but his bout against Mickey Gall at UFC 203 on Saturday was an embarrassment to everyone involved. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto just wrote about how the UFC shouldn’t promote a second CM Punk fight, and I couldn’t agree more. Punk’s real name is Phil Brooks, and that’s how he should have entered the Octagon on Saturday night, not as his WWE moniker that was solely used for marketing purposes to help promote the bout because otherwise nobody would have known him. We all got Punk’d by Dana White and the UFC. Unfortunately, it will likely happen again. The fact that this fight was actually on the main card of the Pay-Per-View is very disappointing in itself. Why not make it the headliner on the preliminary card and showcase Gall as an up-and-coming prospect rather than try to sucker bettors and fans alike into believing it was actually worth paying for? You can’t blame Gall for taking this bout either because it was a great shot for him to earn some name recognition. But after making just $30,000 for the win, how long do you think it will it take him to earn the same reported $500,000 that Punk received for a little more than two minutes of “work” in his UFC debut? This is the biggest problem I have always had with the UFC. No fight on the main card should ever be that lopsided of a matchup from a betting perspective, the exception being when there are simply no other opponents worthy of a title shot going up against a dominant champion like Demetrious Johnson. Even then, it’s no wonder that people consistently leave before Johnson’s main events, disrespecting the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. You could certainly argue Punk should be on Gabe Killian’s Chopping Block too based on that one performance alone because it’s hard to believe he will eventually compete at this high of a level. The 37-year-old Chicago native is undoubtedly an entertaining personality, but that’s all he has going for him, which is not enough to warrant another opportunity to fight in the UFC.