UFC star: Boxing is finished, Mark Wahlberg: Boxing is beginning a Renaissance:

[AgainstTheRopes]

UFC hype train is dead. They said it would be in the same league as MLB, NBA, and NFL which is comical now. That being said It's still viable and a decent product...no need to hate.

[Mitchell Kane]

doubt that the WWE wrestlers thing is of any value.

Doubt it all you want, but Lesnar only had 7 fights in the UFC...and he main-evented the two highest selling UFC PPV's, and 4 of the top 7.

And CM Punk is on the roster...

http://www.ufc.com/fighter/cm-punk

[Scipio2009]

Doubt it all you want, but Lesnar only had 7 fights in the UFC...and he main-evented the two highest selling UFC PPV's, and 4 of the top 7.

And CM Punk is on the roster...

http://www.ufc.com/fighter/cm-punk

Brock Lesnar was a 2-time NCAA Heavyweight champion, and a utter physical freak. He came in as a massive PPV star and the UFC struck while the iron was hot.

CM Punk is nowhere near the star that Brock Lesnar was when he came in; beyond that, Punk is already 35 years old, with no actual athletic accomplishments to speak of (in any sport).

Point to a single other WWE wrestler who would walk in with actual ability, lol

[SalimShady1212]

If boxing is dead, MMA was never alive. Money in boxing is incomparable in scale to UFC. May-Pac fight purses are more than UfC have paid their fighters since 2005

[George Orwell]

this guy is actually a racist thug who got lucky off underwear modeling, rapping and acting.

[Mitchell Kane]

doubt that the WWE wrestlers thing is of any value.

Point to a single other WWE wrestler who would walk in with actual ability, lol

You went from talking about "value" to "ability".

Two very different things.

But CM Punk had a significant pro wrestling following, and some of those fans will follow him if/when he fights in the UFC.

[Scipio2009]

You went from talking about "value" to "ability".

Two very different things.

But CM Punk had a significant pro wrestling following, and some of those fans will follow him if/when he fights in the UFC.

Lesnar worked because he had ability; establishing his star in the WWE (and having WWE fans pay for his fights out of their pockets) definitely helped a ton, but if he couldn't actually fight, he would've flopped.

Brock Lesnar was an anomaly of the highest order; the idea of a 6'4" super heavyweight with sublime athletic ability and world-class wrestling skill, who could talk people into the seats, was truly 1/1000.

If you want to think that Punk can actually compete, with no real athletic experience, so be it.

[Mitchell Kane]

Lesnar worked because he had ability; establishing his star in the WWE (and having WWE fans pay for his fights out of their pockets) definitely helped a ton, but if he couldn't actually fight, he would've flopped.

Brock Lesnar was an anomaly of the highest order; the idea of a 6'4" super heavyweight with sublime athletic ability and world-class wrestling skill, who could talk people into the seats, was truly 1/1000.

If you want to think that Punk can actually compete, with no real athletic experience, so be it.

That would be significant if the UFC was going to take the same approach with CM Punk that they did with Lesnar.

But they aren't.

-"He wanted to fight here," White told ESPN.com. "He wanted to give it a shot, so we gave him an opportunity. It's not like Brock Lesnar. We're not going to throw the kitchen sink at him. Lesnar had a wrestling background. [CM Punk] is going to fight a guy who is 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 -- something like that."

[hayZ]

People need to understand that Florian works for the UFC at FOX. He's always going to biased. Now, I've noticed just like how the Boxing world was close-minded to MMA back in 2006 on wards, the MMA world is the same when it comes to Boxing. They are under the mindset that Boxing is Mayweather/Pacquaio, they don't understand the World of Boxing in that sense. They don't understand that Froch v Groves 2 did 80,000+ in a stadium and did over 1 million PPV buys in the UK, do any MMA fighters really know them? Klitschko sells out big arenas in Europe every time he fights, with immense event production too. Canelo is a massive draw, Broner is a draw, Khan v Brook can sell out a stadium in the UK..a big stadium too (It'd be great to see that at Old Trafford). Golovkin is earning a lot of respect throughout the world, you don't see many people hating on him but once all the casuals and idiots start riding his nuts that'll change. Loads of Boxers on the up too.

[Scipio2009]

That would be significant if the UFC was going to take the same approach with CM Punk that they did with Lesnar.

But they aren't.

-"He wanted to fight here," White told ESPN.com. "He wanted to give it a shot, so we gave him an opportunity. It's not like Brock Lesnar. We're not going to throw the kitchen sink at him. Lesnar had a wrestling background. [CM Punk] is going to fight a guy who is 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 -- something like that."

Punk is a 36 year old guy who has no history of any real combat sports; if he steps into the ring and looks as much a novice as I expect, the experiment flops.

UFC brought him in because they're hoping that lightning strikes twice, lol