Itchy CM Punk unlikely to make UFC debut until 2016 (and you can blame his accountant)

When Phil Brooks was a wrestler for WWE -- specifically when he was a "heel" -- the promotion would troll the crowd by playing his entrance music without sending him out to the ring. Fans would jump up from their seats ready to see him and nope, nothing.

Nice to see some things haven't changed.

"CM Punk" has since junked his career in the squared circle to pursue life as a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, signing with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) last November. But he's not a fighter until he has an actual fight (this doesn't count), something that may not happen until 2016.

And he's fine with that (via MMA Fighting):

"I'll tell you who is super okay with it, my accountant. She was straight up like, 'Oh yea, don't even fight this year. That would be super great.' I know Duke [Roufus] has told me, and I think he's been public with it, that he would like me for a full 12 months before he'd sign off on me fighting. I've had zero talks with [UFC president] Dana White, [CEO] Lorenzo Fertitta, [matchmaker] Joe Silva, anybody, about an opponent, about a date. I'm thankful for that because there's zero pressure. As bad as I have the itch to get in there, I want to be as prepared as possible. I wouldn't be upset if it got pushed to 2016."

The "Natural Born Striker" is likely to compete at welterweight.

Until he does, Brooks can expect the list of potential challengers to keep growing. In addition to whatever rub a fighter can get from competing against the WWE import in what will likely be a high-profile pay-per-view (PPV) spot, some combatants are looking to teach "Punk" a lesson about cage fighting.

Meanwhile, he's teaching them a lesson about patience.