Muhammed Lawal says CM Punk proved himself a fighter at UFC 203

There weren’t many positives to glean from CM Punk’s long-awaited mixed martial arts debut. The former WWE superstar, whose real name is Phil Brooks, suffered a lopsided defeat via first-round submission at the hands of Mickey Gall at UFC 203, failing to land a single significant strike over the course of the two-minute fight and prompting many veteran fighters within the game to revel in Punk’s unfortunate night.

But not all of the reception to UFC 203’s special attraction was negative. Several UFC veterans lauded Punk for his willingness to jump headfirst into a dangerous place like the UFC Octagon, knowing full well the hazards of the sport. And former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed Lawal, who also has dabbled in pro wrestling with a past gig in TNA, believes that the 37-year-old Punk proved that he belonged in MMA simply because of the way he handled adversity once the going got tough against a jiu-jitsu brown belt like Gall.

“My silver lining is, [Punk is] a fighter. Here’s why I say this. Any normal man would’ve tapped when he’s getting beat up like that, and would’ve quit,” Lawal said Monday on The MMA Hour.

“Man, he didn’t quit. He was getting pummeled, he got put in every bad position, he was flattened out getting hit. And you know what? He kept on trying. There are people, there are vets, there’s some champions out there who’ll tap to strikes. But you know what, he kept he fighting and got submitted. So I can give him that. He went out there to win. He tried. That’s all you can ask. Next time he’ll do better.”

Punk trained for nearly two years at the Roufusport gym in preparation for his UFC debut, although some of that time was spent with Punk sidelined by lingering back and shoulder injuries.

It ultimately ended up mattering little, as Punk found …

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