Turns out that CM Punk's lack of MMA experience is more than a mere talking point for disgruntled fans.
When Punk (real name Phil Brooks) steps into the cage in Cleveland Saturday for his pro MMA debut at UFC 203, he'll be circumnavigating a small but important rule in the bylaws of the Ohio Athletic Commission.
According to a blog post from combat sports attorney Erik Magraken, the commission bylaws require every MMA fighter to have five amateur fights under his or her belt before he or she can compete in the state as a pro.
Guess how many Punk has. If you said "zero," you are correct.
As Magraken laid out in the post on his Combat Sports Law blog:
Brooks cannot be faulted for pursuing his dream. It is also difficult to fault a promoter for putting on a controversial fight as controversy sells and promoters are in the money making business. Regulators, on the other hand, play a role when it comes to scrutinizing controversial bouts and here the CM Punk saga takes an interesting legal twist. ...The requirements for a professional combative sports license vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and Ohio has specific requirements in place for those wishing to turn pro. ...CM Punk does not meet this standard, meaning the Commission has exercised a waiver of this safety standard in order to allow him to make his UFC Debut.
The case seems pretty open-and-shut, with Punk not being overly shy about his rather sparse background in MMA and every other combat sport.
By contrast, Punk's opponent, Mickey Gall, has a pro record of 2-0 and an amateur record of 2-0, according to the Sherdog fighter database. (One assumes his pro debut came in a jurisdiction where five amateur fights were not a prerequisite to turning pro.)
In the same database, Punk is listed as 0-0 with no pro or amateur contests to his name.
If the Ohio Athletic Commission did indeed grant Punk a waiver to compete, that is certainly not illegal and is the prerogative of the commission that developed and enforces those bylaws.
At the same time, it raises a fresh round of questions over the role of experience in not only Punk's fledgling second career—which he begins at the age of 37 after many injury-riddled years in pro wrestling—but in the general safety of MMA and its athletes.
Would a man who had Punk's age and condition but lacked his celebrity have received such a waiver? It's not hard to understand why Punk, and the massive crossover interest he commands, may have received special treatment. Fans will know a lot more about the wisdom of such a move after his fight with Gall Saturday night.
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