We were never given an exact date for CM Punk’s UFC debut but whenever that was going to be has been delayed slightly. ESPN spoke with Punk’s coach Duke Roufus who said he tweaked his shoulder in training.
“He got caught in a scramble, so right now he’s taking a little time off,” Roufus told ESPN.com. “He was doing great before that. His progress has been good. He’s got a great attitude and he’s a hard worker.”
The former WWE star was announced as a signing by the UFC on December 6th last year and it was rumoured that he would make his debut after about a year which would coincided with one of the many big events around New Years. However, Roufus gave an indication of Punk’s progression and when he believes he’ll make his debut.
“He’s about at 50 percent,” Roufus said to ESPN. “But that being said, remember that my 100 percent is a very well-prepared person.
“The UFC will probably book him a fight three to four months in advance, a guy of his magnitude. We’re probably looking at a fight in the next six to 10 months. The injury throws us back one month. We had a ballpark. We were looking at mid-to-late spring. Now, we’ll just have to see how he comes back from the injury.”
With that guideline of 6-10 months and taking a look at the UFC’s schedule of events then we could probably workout that is could be either UFC in New York (April, 6 months away) or UFC 200 (July, 9 months away). Both of these dates make sense for everyone involved.