New court documents reveal that fighters in the UFC weren't happy with CM Punk's pay.
After being fired from WWE in 2014, CM Punk decided to dip his toes into another combat sport. The self-proclaimed 'Best In The World' made his debut for the UFC in September 2016, losing to Mickey Gall by submission.
In documents that were first shared by MMAFighting.com, it was revealed that CM Punk was paid a flat rate of $500,000 for his first fight in the UFC. According to an expert report that was released in the ongoing UFC antitrust lawsuit, Punk ended up taking home $1,042,736 for the fight after bonuses.
In the deposition that was also provided by MMAFighting.com, UFC President Dana White recalled fighters going crazy when they learned what Punk was being paid for his debut fight.
It just happened recently again, too,” White said in the deposition. “We had some guy that was — that was paid a certain amount of money and never — oh, the professional wrestler that we brought in. Not Brock [Lesnar], the other one.”
“CM Punk?” the attorney asked.
“Oh, yeah,” White replied. “People went crazy when they saw what he got paid. ... Even the women.”
Punk only went on to have one other fight in the world of MMA, competing against Mike Jackson in 2018. The star then returned to the world of professional wrestling in September 2021, debuting for All Elite Wrestling. After various controversies, Punk was fired from the company in September 2023, which led to his return to WWE in November 2023.
Punk is set to appear on the January 8 episode of Raw. Fans can see the current lineup for the show here.
