What does the signing of former WWE star now turned mixed martial artist, Phil Brooks (CM Punk) mean for the UFC and the sport itself?
When color commentator Joe Rogan brought Phil Brooks (CM Punk) to side for an interview at UFC 181 and announced to the MMA world that the former WWE superstar had indeed signed with the UFC, it sent shockwaves throughout both the MMA and wrestling world.
The reaction has been unsurprisingly mixed to say the least and there are a lot of ways to view the impact of Brooks’ signing.
To properly gauge Brooks’ arrival to the UFC, it’s time to borrow a title from an iconic spaghetti western…
A version of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, CM Punk style.
The Good
The biggest, most obvious, positive of this pickup is easily Brooks’ drawing power amongst fans.
Not long ago, when another former WWE star turned mixed martial artist, Brock Lesnar, hit the scene, he was easily the promotion’s biggest star.
There’s no denying how big the WWE fan base is and the carryover from that realm to the UFC’s was huge as Lesnar is still the only UFC fighter ever to earn one million pay-per-view purchases.
Brooks will do the same when he makes his debut as many of his WWE fans will likely pay top dollar to see his first fight inside the octagon.
The Bad
Perhaps the biggest knock against the Brooks signing is his inexperience.
Unlike Lesnar (right), who was at least an NCAA National Champion in wrestling at Minnesota, Brooks has no competitive experience to gauge his talent on.
Sure, performing in the WWE requires a ton of athleticism and skill to be successful. But there is a world of difference between running a scripted match while protecting your opponent, to being in an actual fight where your adversary wants to legitimately hurt you.
As far as we understand, Brooks is no more than a white belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has a background in kempo (a martial art focused primarily on counter striking and self-defense).
Unlike Lesnar as well, Brooks is entering a much deeper weight division (middleweight) than Lesnar did when he took control of a very weak heavyweight division that featured an old Randy Couture and an equally over the hill Frank Mir.
From Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy, to Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman, the chances of Brooks being successful in this division are slim and none and I’m afraid slim just left town.
The Ugly
It’s hard not to look at this signing beyond the business angle and not scratch your head.
Signing a 36-year-old former pro wrestler with an 0-0 MMA record to the top MMA promotion where supposedly only the best are allowed to compete makes UFC President Dana White and co. look like ring masters at a circus freak show.
It would be like if Tom Telesco called up Jaimie Foxx to join the San Diego Chargers because he thought he looked good throwing the ball in Any Given Sunday.
Meanwhile, other more talented fighters, such as Ben Askren, in smaller MMA leagues are on the outside looking in while Brooks gets dibs just because he used to be a pro wrestler with a huge fan following.
But who knows? Maybe Brooks will be better than expected. Maybe he will be the next Lesnar and catapult the UFC to even greater heights and exposure.
In either case we’ll all find out just how good he is soon when he makes his debut in the Octagon sometime in 2015.
Copyright 2015 SportSpeak LLC, all rights reserved. For more coverage, follow @SportSpeakLA and @SportSpeakOC on Twitter.