Feb 1, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; CM Punk during the Men’s Royal Rumble match during the WWE Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

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CM Punk UFC Record – Was “The Best in the World” the best in the UFC too?

Get to know all about how CM Punk’s UFC career went down

Feb 1, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; CM Punk during the Men’s Royal Rumble match during the WWE Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

CM Punk is all set for his first ever WrestleMania appearance since 2013 at WWE WrestleMania 41 since his return to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in November 2023. He will be managed by his best friend Paul Heyman and involved in a triple-threat match against both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in the match.

CM Punk had won the World Heavyweight Championship, WWE Championship, Intercontinental Championship, World Tag Team Championship and Money in the Bank throughout his first tenure with WWE from 2005 to 2014.

However, “The Best in the World” has not only been a pro wrestler in his career. Rather, he has also dabbled in the art of MMA fighting, especially in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). This happened after he left WWE in 2014. He signed a contract with the UFC at UFC 181 on December 16, 2014, thereby starting a new career in the world of MMA. Unfortunately, he only had one fight in the promotion and his MMA career did not go down the way that he intended to.

CM Punk UFC Record

CM Punk only had one official fight during his tenure with the Ultimate Fighting Championship while his second and last fight ended in a No Contest. He was a part of the Welterweight Division in the promotion. His debut at UFC 203: Miocic vs Overeem on September 10, 2016 saw him lose to Mickey Gall via a Rear Naked Choke (submission) in Round 1.

He lost again to Mike Jackson in his second fight at UFC 225: Whittaker vs Romero 2 on June 9, 2018. However, three-years later this fight was changed into a no-contest as it was revealed that Mike Jackson tested positive for marijuana on the night of the fight as per MMA Junkie. His record was initially 0-2 but it became 0-1-0 after the overturning as per the UFC official site.

1 Fight	Wins	Losses	No Contest
By Submssion	0	1	–
No Contest	–	–	1

Also Read:- Will Paul Heyman turn heel on Roman Reigns to repay CM Punk’s Favor?

Why did CM Punk leave the UFC?

CM Punk eventually left UFC as he returned to his earlier career, pro wrestling in 2021. Notably, his performance inside the Octagon received negative reviews from fans as well as MMA experts. However, CM Punk has revealed to Renee Paquette in Renee Pacquette’s Oral Sessions podcast (via talkSPORT) that he was too old to start a career in the UFC. He initially wanted to prepare for UFC after leaving WWE at the end of 2010 or 2011, when his deal with the promotion ended. He wanted to train and do amateur fights before he joined UFC. However, the fact that WWE wrestlers are always on the road prevented him training consistently.

Notably, CM Punk was already 36 years old when he signed with UFC. He had his first fight against Mickey Gall just six weeks before he turned 38 years old as per MMA Fighting. Moreover, his second fight against Mike Jackson was when he was 39 years old.

Despite no longer fighting inside the Octagon, CM Punk however, has served as a color commentator for Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) for their UFC Fight Pass events.

CM Punk

Mickey Gall

Mike Johnson

Paul Heyman

Roman Reigns

Seth Rollins

UFC

UFC 203

UFC 225

WWE

WWE WrestleMania 41

Arka Mukherjee

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mma

wrestling

I’m a sports content writer focusing on MMA, WWE and MLB writer at The Playoffs. I have a Master’s degree in Media Science (M.Sc) from my college The Heritage Academy. I got into the sports industry through my previous company where I worked from 2023 to March 2025. I’m a fan of combat sports like pro wrestling and MMA. My favorite part about working at The Playoffs is speculating what can be happening in WWE, especially face-heel turns and results of matches.