CLEVELAND – Maybe they aren't exact, but with Tim Tebow signing a minor league deal with the New York Mets and CM Punk making his UFC debut on Saturday, it feels like a "why not" time in sports.
And at the UFC 203 press conference on Thursday at the Quicken Loans Arena, Punk (real name Phil Brooks) was asked if he saw some parallels between him and the Heisman Trophy winner/former NFL quarterback Tebow.
"Oh he signed with the Mets? I think that's great," Punk said. "That's awesome. Symmetry? Maybe. The people who don't like me are going to point out that, 'Punk wasn't a professional athlete,' so it's a whole different can of worms. But, yeah, I think there's a lot of symmetry. You go from one...I'm debating on whether to call it a sport or not, everything I say gets click-baited...f*ck it, you got from one sport to another, there are parallels."
Punk was a longtime star of the WWE, and has spent the last year-and-a-half training for his UFC bout with 24-year old Mickey Gall (2-0). With pro wrestling being choreographed, his detractors point out his lack of substance in actual competition, which is one of the reasons he's a fairly big underdog against the marginally experienced Gall.
Still, the 37-year old Punk is famous from his pro wrestling days, and that fame transfers to the cage. His crossover also comes with additional scrutiny, just like it will with Tebow.
"It's like Michael Jordan," Punk said. "[He] went from playing basketball to playing baseball. Oh, baseball's too hard, he's not going to be able to do it, and I'm awkward and uncoordinated and I'm old and I'm fat and I'm lazy and I suck and I'm a fake athlete and I'm not going to be able to do it. You know if you believe all that stuff, then you're not going to be able to do it. I'm sure Tim Tebow can hit a ball. I think that's great."
