CM Punk 'pretty confident' he will get second UFC chance - Dana White 'floated me an idea'

After C.M. Punk suffered a one-sided beatdown in his high-profile mixed martial arts (MMA) debut at the capable hands of Mickey Gall (see it again here) at UFC 203 two months ago, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White was pretty adamant that the former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar's next fight would not take place in the Octagon.

According to Punk (a.k.a. Phil Brooks), however, White may have had a change of heart. Indeed, he is now more than confident that his sophomore UFC will, in fact, take place inside the eight-walled cage. Appearing on "The MMA Hour," Punk claims he had a recent conversation with White -- and while he doesn’t want to speak for the brash head honcho --his time fighting for the WME-IMG-owned company may not be one and done.

"To me, yeah. But, that’s up to Dana. I had a good conversation with him. I told him, ‘If you want to cut me, I get it. But, I’m fighting whether it’s for you or somebody else.’ Now, I don’t got an agent or a manager. I’m like Bill Murray, just with a lot less money, less funny or as famous. But, I did tell him I want to fight again and we’re back at it, back to the drawing board. So, it’s up to him. He floated me an idea and we’re kind of going back-and-forth on it right now. I’m at the point where I want to get something on paper, so, you might be able to hear an announcement in the coming weeks. I really don’t know, there is no timetable, though. I don’t want to speak for him, but if he wanted to kill it, he would have killed it right then. But, you never know. And Dana is a friend of mine, so it’s always a weird thing because I grew up in wrestling taught not to trust promoters. So there is always that little thing. So until anything’s official, I don’t want to say what he’s thinking or saying. But, I am pretty confident that it will be in the UFC."

As far as the idea that was floated, Punk wouldn’t reveal any details, but did say he would prefer to return in Jan. or Feb. 2017. Perhaps this may have played a part in changing White’s tune if that truly is the case. But, if White sticks to his initial guns and convinces Punk to hit the regional circuit to get some more experience, Punk will gladly take that route, as he isn’t prepared to give up on his combat sports career anytime soon.

And you can bet that Bellator MMA President Scott Coker wouldn't give up on Punk after one fight, either.