While not every fighter was pleased to hear that former WWE champion CM Punk had been given a contract by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), even with no professional experience inside the cage, others -- like Michael Bisping -- recognize that his built-in fan base can help attract new fans to mixed martial arts (MMA).
But as "The Count" told Off the Record, that fan base has a limited shelf life.
"I respect anybody that has the cajones to step inside an Octagon but if you're coming from a professional wrestling background like he is, y'know, this isn't ‘story time' with mum and dad, this is the real thing. He's gonna learn pretty hard and pretty fast that this was a gigantic mistake on his behalf. This is not professional wrestling, this is the fight business, this is the hurt business. They're still trying to find an opponent. They're trying to figure out, who is somebody that Phil Brooks can beat? I don't know if I can answer that. If he does attract people to [UFC] and he does sell pay-per-views, then god bless him, that's his lookout. He has a fan base, he has a following, but that fan base and that following will diminish after he gets wiped out inside one round."
Punk's first opponent remains a secret ... for now.
While the WWE import works on his skills at Roufusport, Bisping gears up for his middleweight return at the UFC 186 pay-per-view (PPV) event, scheduled for tomorrow night (Sat., April 25, 2015) inside the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
For more on that fight click here.
Get the latest gear
