MMA Junkie reports that CM Punk was given clearance by the Ohio commission to obtain a license to fight this Saturday.
CM Punk was granted a license despite the fact he has no amateur or professional MMA experience. The rules in Ohio cite that “A mixed martial arts fighter will be required to have a minimum of five recorded amateur bouts with a winning record prior to being permitted to compete as a professional mixed martial arts fighter. They may appeal to the executive director or Ohio athletic commission to have this waived.” See Ohio Administrative Code 3773-7-20(E).
Obviously, there was an appeal to the executive director for the waiver. The commission cited his professional wrestling experience as a mitigating factor.
Via MMA Junkie:
“We felt this was no different than, basically, the Brock Lesnar situation, when they let him fight in the UFC,” [Ohio Athletic Commission Executive Director Bernie] Profato said of the former UFC heavyweight champion and NCAA Division I national wrestling champion. “We have confidence in the matchmaking of the UFC. It looks like a competitive fight.”
“The five-fight rule, we’ve waived it a number of times, especially for Ohio State wrestlers,” Profato said. “We used the Lesnar situation as an example to approve it. When (professional wrestlers) get that high, they have a massive training (facility). We’ve checked that out with the WWE. They’re watched in there. They probably train, in some cases, even harder than some of the UFC fighters.”
Payout Perspective:
The quotes from the executive director do not bolster your confidence in the fact that the Ohio commission is closely taking care of the health and safety of the fighters. The Lesnar comparison seems tone deaf considering his subsequent USADA test failures post-UFC 200. One would hope that Punk will not suffer a horrible injury due to lack of experience in MMA.
This is why mma is losing credibility, anyone can come in and get a big fight. Boxing has an amateur system that weeds out the scrubs.