Do your respect what CM Punk did?

[jmt225]

Do you respect CM Punk "chasing his dreams" and attempting to become an MMA fighter?

I absolutely do NOT!

His performance this past weekend was a complete disgrace and embarrassment. Why wasn't anyone around Punk honest with him and let him know that he positively SUCKS at fighting? Instead of ditching his WWE friends, Punk needs to ditch the yes men he obviously surrounds himself with.

And what kind of dream is it for a near 40-year-old man to fight in the UFC anyway?

I GUARANTEE CM Punk didn't become a UFC fan until the TUF era, so he was already a grown man by then, which means in no way is this a childhood dream. This was something Punk just wanted to do. He wanted to be a real life tough guy since he was bullied as a kid and because his Muay Thai strikes in pro wrestling were always ridiculed by fans since they looked like shit.

But should we just feel obligated to applaud Punk for trying his "dream", no matter how stupid and embarrassing that "dream" was? To me, no... not when it makes the sports entertainment field that made him look bad. Not when it completely destroys his legacy. CM Punk is now nothing more than a meme. A joke. CM Pussy, as indy fans used to call him.

I was once the biggest CM Punk fan on the planet. I wanted to stay loyal to him. I ignored the stories of him being an asshole, I ignored his whining, I ignored his treating the fans like dirt, I ignored his obnoxiousness on Twitter... I even looked past the Mickey Gall fight. I stayed on the Punk train for as long as I could, but after this weekend... I'm done with the guy and I don't care if he ever returns to pro wrestling again. Personally, I don't even want him to. Just fade away into obscurity and write comic books that no one will read. Live a happy life with AJ Lee (I sincerely wish that for them both). But I have zero interest in ever seeing this guy in a wrestling ring again in any way, shape, or form.

Do you feel as I do? Or do you think I'm overreacting? Do actually you respect CM Punk MORE for fighting in the UFC? Feel free to call me an irrational douche about this... I'm opened to all opinions! :)

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I would love for Punk to return, but it depends on which Punk we're getting. If he's repaired his relationship with WWE and is motivated, then sure. Who doesn't want that Punk back in WWE feuding with wrestlers such as Styles, Nakamura, Joe, and Bryan? Love Punk or hate him, he's one of the biggest stars of the last few years and would instantly be one of the biggest wrestlers in WWE upon his return. Now with that said, I don't see it happening. Obviously there's a lot of animosity between Punk and WWE, and I don't see them working together any time soon.

As for his UFC career, well it was a failure. However does it really matter? If Punk really wanted to do it, then I respect him for doing it. Ultimately it's not going to change my opinion of him, and I don't see see how it could.

[A11]

I would love for Punk to return, but it depends on which Punk we're getting. If he's repaired his relationship with WWE and is motivated, then sure. Who doesn't want that Punk back in WWE feuding with wrestlers such as Styles, Nakamura, Joe, and Bryan? Love Punk or hate him, he's one of the biggest stars of the last few years and would instantly be one of the biggest wrestlers in WWE upon his return. Now with that said, I don't see it happening. Obviously there's a lot of animosity between Punk and WWE, and I don't see them working together any time soon.

As for his UFC career, well it was a failure. However does it really matter? If Punk really wanted to do it, then I respect him for doing it. Ultimately it's not going to change my opinion of him, and I don't see see how it could.

You dont want a punk that is on good terms with wwe. The whole thing that made CM Punk so good was that he was so disgruntled to prove people wrong.

As for OP, geez thats harsh. What does it matter when he had the dream? People change, what I wanted five years ago as an 18 year old and what I want now are completely different. And as punk said he just wanted to pursue it, he was happy to start at the bottom and see how far he could go. It's the UFC's fault for trying to throw someone in who was known to not be athletic. I do respect punk. Not for his UFC career but for the fact that he's in a better place both mentally and physically

[Alex]

If people only kept doing what they were doing when they were younger/what they're good at the world would be a much different place. Not only from the perspective that people like The Rock wouldn't be doing movies, Chris Jericho wouldn't be doing music, Arnie wouldn't have done movies or politics etc etc but I'm also sure there would be a lot more people dead. Either by suicide, stress induced attacks or killing their co-workers.

Put it this way. I'm debating on whether to move away from where I currently am to try something else in a different city because I currently feel like shit where I am and feel a change of scenery and different opportunities might help. Will it work I don't know, but if I don't go there will always be a 'what if' in my head. If it doesn't work out I can at least say I tried.

Brock Lesnar tried his hand at American football. It sucked sure, but it was something he wanted to do and nobody's opinon but his own was going to change that. He went back to wrestling for a bit and then found a passion for MMA. Switching jobs seems to have worked for him because he can now command more or less whatever he wants. He wouldn't have got that if he hadn't left wrestling the first time.

CM Punk trying his hand at MMA I applaud. Dude was in his late 30s when he went for it and I applaud him for it. It shows that you can always try your hand at something else no matter your age. Sure he's not particularly good at it but he seems to enjoy it and at least tried. Reading the notes from his court case, the last year and a bit at WWE he seemed miserable and getting away from wrestling altogether is probably what helped him because he probably would have either had a breakdown or killed himself.

So yeah, I applaud him for giving it a go even if it sucked. If it was something he enjoyed good on him. Whatever he does next so long as he enjoys it I'm sure he'll be fine

[Jack-Hammer]

I've heard all the "chasing his dreams" stuff for years and while I think it's a bit cliché, I get the gist of it. If Punk was unhappy with WWE and pro wrestling in general, then he was absolutely right to walk away so I'm not hating on him for that at all.

When it comes to his MMA career, a lot of people, myself included, have been down on Punk and I believe rightly so. I think it's fair to say that CM Punk just doesn't have it in him to be a good mixed martial artist, he's been training for over 3 years and you can't blame his piss poor performances on his coach and staff. He looked like a complete idiot in his first fight against Mickey Gall and this Jackson guy could've put Punk down at will, he was just too busy showboating. Joe Rogan recently tore into Punk, going so far as to say that Punk just doesn't have any "physical talent" to be in MMA. Rogan is often a critic of Punk and aside from Rogan's occasional jab at pro wrestling in general, it's hard to disagree with every point he makes regarding Punk. Rogan thinks that only top fighters should be fighting on ppvs and I agree; I get that the goal is to sell the ppv but, at the same time, doing stuff like putting people on shows and in spots they don't deserve hurts the purity and perception of the sport just as we've seen in boxing. What I don't have respect for is Punk being okay with leap frogging into prominent spots on ppv cards for the biggest MMA company in the world; Punk used to absolutely rail against guys coming in to WWE and doing the exact same thing but I guess it's okay if he comes in, takes a spot from someone else, collects $500,000 for looking like crap. I know that Punk didn't just show up, tell Dana White that he was gonna be put on a ppv and that was the end of it but, again, that also wasn't the case for part timers who come into WWE as they don't just dictate what they're going to do...unless they're Brock Lesnar. :p There are tons of fighters out there who fight for what's, comparatively speaking, peanuts, they have more ability than Punk, more dedication, are younger and can't get UFC to give them the time of day but that's okay with Punk just so long as he gets his.

Something I've found hilarious over the course of this past week are die hard fans of Punk desperately trying to defend him. How do they try to defend him? By doing the thing most people do during an argument when they don't have a leg to stand on to back up their position: they start flinging insults at the person they're arguing with. I've read posts in some stories talking about it in which someone correctly points out Punk's shortcomings, you'll hear a defender call that someone a "fat loser" or "get out of your mom's basement" or "you don't have the guts to follow your dreams" or whatever. Even if any or all of those statements blindly hurled at a complete stranger, or strangers, happens to be true, it doesn't do one single thing to invalidate the points they made about Punk. It doesn't matter if you live in your mom's basement, it doesn't matter if you're overweight, it doesn't matter if you haven't followed your dreams, the subject of the argument is CM Punk's less than stellar showings and ability as an MMA fighter.

To me, going to or going back to school to be a teacher is something deserving of respect, walking away from your job/place in the world to mentor to kids is worthy of respect, starting up a charity to help those who're homeless or don't have enough to eat, etc.. I respect him walking away from WWE when he was unhappy and hated it there, I think it was more ego driven than anything else because Punk wanted his way and wasn't getting it but the point is he was unhappy and he left. What I don't respect is him essentially turning around and doing the same things in UFC that he harped on about Taker, Jericho, Lesnar and Batista were doing in WWE.

[OYDK]

I don't respect Punk any more and I don't respect him any less after getting demolished in two UFC fights. What I am tired of hearing is that he DESERVES to be respected for "living his dream." Honestly, give me a million dollars or anything near it to get my ass kicked in front of millions of people and I would do it in a heartbeat... as would most people I assume. Give me an opportunity to become a pro wrestler/pro athlete without having to do most of the hard work and I would jump at it... as would most I assume.

Punk isn't some sort of hero for doing what anybody else would do if given the chance. That being said, I don't blame him or anything for trying his hand at the UFC. As I said, he's just doing what anybody else would do in his position. The fault lies with the UFC for putting a relatively untrained fighter out there against professional combat athletes who have been doing it for years. It's dangerous and makes the company look bad no matter how much extra money they made, which I have to think wasn't that much more than they would have made had Punk been left off the card.

At the end of the day, Punk tried and he failed miserably, as anybody who knows anything about MMA could have predicted. That doesn't affect my opinion of him in the least bit and it certainly doesn't make me want to see him back in a wrestling ring any less. I just hope the debacle that was the Punk/UFC experiment is over and he can move on to something else. Presumably something he has a chance at being successful in.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

At the end of the day, Punk tried and he failed miserably, as anybody who knows anything about MMA could have predicted. That doesn't affect my opinion of him in the least bit and it certainly doesn't make me want to see him back in a wrestling ring any less. I just hope the debacle that was the Punk/UFC experiment is over and he can move on to something else. Presumably something he has a chance at being successful in.

It's not Punk's fault his booking was horrible. Two squash matches in a row isn't gonna do much for his credibility.

They need to push him while he's still over.