CM Punk Lost His First UFC Fight But Gave a Great Speech After It Was Over

CM Punk took part in his first professional MMA fight at UFC 203 and lost by submission to Mickey Gall.

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Image via Complex Original
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Former WWE wrestler CM Punkfinally took part in his first professional MMA fight at UFC 203 in Cleveland on Saturday night, nearly two years after announcing that he was giving up wrestling to focus on mixed martial arts. After numerous delays, Punk fought Mickey Gall at the event and, well, it didn't go as planned for Punk. He lost by submission after Gall put him into a rear naked choke less than three minutes into the first round of the fight.

But despite taking an L, Punk gave a pretty great speech after the fight was over and said that he had the "time of my life" at UFC 203.

"In life, you go big or you go home," Punk said. "I just like to take challenges. This was a hell of a mountain to try to climb, and I didn’t get to the summit today but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna give up. That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop. I appreciate all the support from everybody. Obviously, Mickey is a hell of a fighter. I will be back, believe it or not. This is the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. It’s the second-best night of my life, besides marrying my wife obviously. I know there’s a lot of doubters, but listen, life’s about falling down and getting up. It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, it’s about getting back up. So if there’s any kid out there that’s told by a parent or a coach or a teacher or somebody that they look up to, somebody that’s supposed to push them and believe in them and they’re told no, don’t listen to them. Believe in yourself. Sometimes, the outcome isn’t always what you desire it to be. But the true failure in life is not trying at all. I know that sounds preachy and kind of weird for a guy who just got beat up, but f*ck it. This was the time of my life. Thank you, Cleveland!"

Following the fight, there were some people who took shots at Punk's poor performance in the Octagon:

But Punk also received quite a bit of praise for being brave enough to fight at UFC 203 in the first place:

Punk said he's going to come back from the loss and fight in the UFC again. Stay tuned to see if that happens.

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