CM Punk's first fight may actually come in video game form.
The former WWE Superstar-turned-mixed martial arts competitor will be a playable character in the upcoming EA UFC 2 video game, according to Sports Illustrated. Punk may be a part of the game, which will be available sometime in the spring of 2016, but he shouldn't be.
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Punk signed on with the UFC in December of 2014 after storming out on the WWE due to his angst toward many aspects of the company. Since that day, the details of his debut fight (important things such as date, venue and opponent) have yet to be released.
The "Best in the World" is training out of Roufusport in Milwaukee, and upon signing with UFC he said he planned to have his first fight in the Octagon sometime in late 2015. The fight was then pushed back to early 2016 until he suffered a shoulder injury in training.
Now, it's anyone's guess as to when Punk will make his first appearance in the cage. The former WWE Superstar's trainer Duke Roufus said in October that it could take "six to 10 months" for him to be ready, according to ESPN.
That means it's more likely that UFC fans can play with Punk in the game by spring 2016 than it is to see him actually fight.
For that, the UFC should hold back on putting him into a game until it can see whether or not his career will be a flop. Many pundits and even fellow MMA fighters believe Punk will fail, but one person who supports him is former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho.
"I think it's great. I love it," Jericho said on his podcast per WrestlingInc. "I love the fact that he's going to do something that he wants to do and that he's taking a chance on doing something different. My opinion is that if he's going to be going into this, you know he is going to be giving 10,000% and he's going to be good at it or die trying, so I wouldn't want to be the guy to face him in his first fight, I'll tell you that."
That first fight may come in the fantasy world of video games.
