I watched the CM Punk and Micky Gall fight today. For those of you who don’t know, CM Punk is a former WWE superstar who made the change to the UFC after leaving the company based on how he was treated. In a short summary, his experience with wrestling was somewhat bleak and damaging. The life of a wrestler seems to be hard and much more larger than life then most other athletes, but stepping into the octagon is another level. Putting your body on the line with actual real life gladiators with every intention to take your head off is somehow an intense and very dangerous experience in itself, but add the crowd, the build up and the mountains of pressure one faces in the lead up to and in those five rounds, the whole experience becomes hard to fathom. You would ask…”why would someone choose that type of life?”, it seems kind of barbaric and to some quite obscene when most people realise that the end product is usually a bloody face for, what seems like most the time, both fighters. That question will always be different to each fighter and it didn’t matter anyway because Punk chose this life regardless. Now ageing and not the young man he once was, he chose to train and fight for real in UFC 203, the very top of the MMA game…and he lost, in the first round after 3 minutes.

 

Bloodied and busted up, he sang heavy praise to his fans and to his opponent before delivering an inspirational speech after his fight. With it all said and done, the in ring debut of CM Punk was finished and we were left with just the dream that maybe one day, someone like CM Punk could walk into the colosseum and win a fight with a gladiator, without any experience.

 

For me the post fight press conference was the one that made the hair on the back of my neck stand, that and Punk’s entrance music, a classic throwback to his time in the WWE. Amidst everything, he was disappointed in the loss, and what was more heart wrenching is that you could actually see it in his face. You see, we all knew the odds were more than just against him. We all knew he was going to lose. He may have not of thought that way, but the reality is that despite everything, the guy is a novice, he wasn’t as experienced and he just couldn’t match up against a much younger, experienced fighter. But throughout everything you couldn’t help but admire his tenacity and his raw tough attitude, the kind of character and personality that really does make him earn the respect of the audience and the fans. Despite losing, despite getting a massive beat down, he still wanted to do what he had set out to do because it had become his fight, his battle, a battle that he had shared with his coaching staff and fans and most of all his wife and family.

 

You see, everyone has their fight, in all aspects of life. We struggle and fall but the only way we get through it is by getting back up. It’s the main theme of my blog in general, one that resonates with my life and with many others. But some people live for that shit. They just want to keep on going, to keep on fighting because without it they feel useless, they feel like they’re losing and that’s just not enough. The battle we have with not only our exterior problems but with our inner demons are ones that consist of a constant messy struggle and brief moments of clarity. We realise that without our own fights, we become hollow versions of ourselves that stagnate and refuse to grow.

 

CM Punk may never be a UFC champion; he may never even win or fight in the UFC again. But watching the emotion and realness of how a fighter, both physical and emotionally so, can keep on pushing and take it on the chin is a testimony to the impossible. Because despite all the blood and bruises, he still had the balls to do what he wanted, he pushed through and he fought his fight.