When the UFC signed former WWE star CM Punk in December of 2014, most fans were left wondering why. Unlike his WWE compatriot Brock Lesnar, Punk had no previous martial arts experience, and at 36 years old, he was very late to be entering into MMA much less debuting at the highest level. Some questioned whether Punk would ever actually step into the cage for real or if this was just a promotional stunt.

But Punk was unfazed. He began training full-time at the well-respected Roufusport Gym in Milwaukee, Wis. For almost two years now, Punk has been preparing for his Octagon debut and it finally happens this Saturday against Mickey Gall. When he does make that walk, Punk will have the support of some of the most notable fighters in MMA, including former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and current welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.

Not everyone likes Punk though. The prospect of a celebrity making their MMA debut on the main card of a UFC event has rubbed many in MMA the wrong way, including former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. Recently on his podcast Phone Booth Fighting, Mir let loose about why he dislikes the Punk situation.

"I'm gonna be honest, it pisses me off. I don't like it. I'm trying to be impartial and not be a dick but the more we talk about this the more I'm getting angry at the situation because it's bullsh*t. This is not a legitimate fight. This is not a legitimate UFC fight. We have these kind of fights in boxing ... they have those celebrity matchups where it's a name guy that shouldn't be in there getting in there with somebody that has a novelty to it and people might turn it on for the novelty act behind it but you wouldn't have it on the undercard of a Mayweather fight. They wouldn't put those two together and the fact that we are putting that on there doesn't sit well with me.

"We want to be in New York and we want to be legitimate and we want to be even with boxing and have that kind of credibility, and boxing wouldn't do this. I mean, they do do this but they don't put it on the same card with their championship fights."

Mir had his own experience with facing an MMA neophyte when he took on Brock Lesnar at UFC 81. It was Lesnar's UFC debut in his second-ever MMA fight; however, Lesnar was a former NCAA Division I national wrestling champion. Still, Mir submitted him with a kneebar in 90 seconds.

Unlike Lesnar though, Punk won't be facing a seasoned MMA veteran and former champion. Instead he fights Mickey Gall, a 24-year-old fighter with a 2-0 record in professional MMA, chosen specifically to face Punk. Regardless, Mir still doesn't like Punk's chances on Saturday; not particularly because of Gall but because of the training footage of Punk that's been shown.

"I hope that CM is just a mastermind at psychological warfare and that he's purposefully putting this kind of footage out there to lull [Gall] down to make it to where [he] gets comfortable, to where [he thinks] maybe CM is not gonna be that good of a fighter. Watching him fight, I felt like I was down at the gym watching just normal guys that have no ambition to be fighters, just taking the class. I've seen some of the women taking the aerobic kickboxing class move better," said Mir.

Mir's comments have been echoed by many in the MMA community who have been unimpressed by the appearance of Punk's abilities. The footage comes from a series put together to promote Punk's journey, The Evolution of Punk. The series chronicles Punk's journey from his first week of training up until now. As such, in the series there is a noticable progression in Punk's skills, culminating in the final episode with Punk in a simulated amateur fight, submitting his opponent with a choke. Mir however, was unimpressed.

"[What I saw was] a very nice, cooperative training partner... The guy was being nice. The cameras were on him and he was being a good partner. I'm only calling what I'm seeing. If that guy really got choked by that, I'd be telling the guy, ‘hey buddy, maybe you're not fit for fighting. You just got choked by a guy that threw no hooks in, 'didn't have it set right, didn't have the proper pressure, had his head in the wrong area, and you were grimacing like you were stuck in a Marcelo Garcia rear-naked choke.'... Demian [Maia]'s not worried anytime soon, let me put it that way. Carlos was wishing that was the choke he had put on him. [Laughs]," said Mir.

Mir's comments are certainly not an aberration among professional fighters. There are many competitors and fans alike who don't think highly of Punk or the opportunity he's been given. Mir doesn't appear to have any personal animosity towards Punk and says he would "have taken him more seriously" had Punk pursued some amateur fights against equally skilled competitors instead of jumping immediately into the UFC. However, Mir does acknowledge one major benefit to Punk's debut.

"If he wins, it's great, he pulls over some of the pro wrestling fans. If he loses, you still have a lot of pro wrestling fans tuning in and hopefully the rest of the card measures up to what we hope it measures up to and we have a lot of crossover fans that stick."

CM Punk fights Mickey Gall on the main card of UFC 203 on Saturday. You can view the clip of Punk's training fight submission below.

MUST-READ STORIES

McCall unreal unlucky. Ray Borg is out of UFC 203 due to illness, Ian McCall pulled from card.

Teeeebow. CM Punk sees parallels between his UFC career and Tim Tebow's baseball career.

Capitalize. Mickey Gall vows to make the most out of his opportunity at UFC 203.

Heated. Fabricio Werdum was fired up at the UFC 203 press conference.

Ducking. Urijah Faber says there are a "bunch of wusses" ducking Jimmie Rivera.

EXTRA CREDIT READING

Crossover appeal. Our boy Chuck Mindenhall talked about CM Punk for The Ringer.

MEDIA STEW

Embedded.

Cruz is so smart. And this reminded me that when Faber finally retires, watching him on the grappling circuit is going to be awesome.

Ian McCall on losing yet another fight on fight week.

PacMan laughing at the idea of Mayweather-McGregor.

Tommy returns.

LISTEN UP

Heavy Hands

Bushido

Fun story about Nick the Tooth here.

TWEETS

Unreal this keeps happening to McCall but this is a fun consolation fight.

I'm game as fuck and I come to fight @seanshelby https://t.co/RMpjjFDOwb — Neil 2 Tap Seery (@NeilSeeryMMA) September 8, 2016

That's why I like you so much! https://t.co/iLlAKKoFw4 — Ian McCall (@Unclecreepymma) September 8, 2016

Or this fight works. Probably even better honestly.

Sign me up. How about I beat up @NeilSeeryMMA in Belfast before I come after you? Gotta make $ this yearhttps://t.co/S7TTOskrRM — Ian McCall (@Unclecreepymma) September 8, 2016

See, the UFC will be okay without Joe Silva. That's what Twitter is for.

They pray everyday for my downfall but it's me who answers them. pic.twitter.com/zMqdND0yja — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 8, 2016

Working on some ninja moves with @sixgungibson some times I feel like turtle lol #TMNT #UFCPortlandpic.twitter.com/jC73M08jMO — John Dodson III (@JohnDodsonMMA) September 9, 2016

Sucks. I was looking forward to that fight.

I would like to send a very sincere apology to all my family and friends who were hoping to see me fight tomorrow. Unfortunately it was out of my control and I fell very ill and was taken to the ER last night. I would also like to apologize to @unclecreepymma for having to go without a fight 2 times in a row and also to the @ufc for the inconvenience. A photo posted by Ray borg (@tazmexufc) on Sep 8, 2016 at 9:28am PDT

And McCall has been super classy about it. Great dude.

Shit happens kids. Just keep smiling. Thank you to the @UFC for always taking care of me. I hope @tazmexufc is ok and gets better soon. How about I come back to Ireland and put on a show with Neil seery? A photo posted by Ian Mccall (@unclecreepymma) on Sep 8, 2016 at 6:40am PDT

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rick Glenn (18-3-1) vs. Evan Dunham (17-6-0); UFC Fight Night 95, September 17.

Reza Madadi (14-4-0) vs. Marc Diakiese (9-0-0); UFC 204, October 8.

John Castaneda (11-2-0) vs. Gustavo Lopez (6-1-0); Combate Americas, October 14.

Marcos Rogerio De Lima (14-3-1) vs. Gian Villante (14-7-0); UFC 205, November 12.





TODAY IN MMA HISTORY 1994: Steve Jennum became the first man not named Royce Gracie to win a UFC tournament when he won UFC 3 as an alternate. Jennum stepped in in the finals against Harold Howard as a replacement for the injured Ken Shamrock. Howard himself beat Roland Payne in the quarterfinals and then advanced to the finals after Royce Gracie withdrew in the semis due to exhaustion after winning a difficult fight with Kimo Leopoldo in the quarterfinals.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The CM Punk hate is dumb. Dude wanted to take a shot at fighting and because of his station in life he was able to get paid handsomely to do it. Sure, he could have fought in some smokers in the midwest or something but why do that when instead he can make millions of dollars to do the same thing? Not only that but Stipe has to be ecstatic. He gets PPV points now that he's champion so this is surely boosting his bottom line.

I hope Punk does well tomorrow. He's probably gonna get rolled but I hope he surprises people and I have no real issue with him fighting in the UFC. My biggest issue with him fighting is that he's fighting Mickey Gall who is actually a talented fighter. The argument goes, 'well this win will make Gall's career' but that's just not the reality. Remember how huge a star Seth Petruzelli became after KOing Kimbo? So big that after that win his next fight was knocking out a 5-5 guy named Chris Baten at Art of Fighting. Sure you can get some push off of Punk's name but mostly this is just a negative for Punk not a huge positive for Gall and, I think, it's pretty poor matchmaking.

Instead Punk should be fighting Sage Northcutt, for several reasons.

1) Sage's tenure in the UFC has made it pretty clear that he still needs tons of development and this gets him that.

2) Phil Brooks does not appear to be a good striker. Honestly, he appears to be a pretty horrid one. And while he doesn't look to be any great shakes on the ground, he does look to be better there and at the very least we've seen that Sage is a novice grappler so putting Punk in with Sage gives him at least a viable avenue for success.

3) Gall is a legitimately good grappler. He held his own with Gordon Ryan who is a real life world class grappler. Gall likely is the better striker here but he is definitely the better grappler. Low level fights (most fights really) always hit the floor. Gall is going to tap him when this goes there.

4) Again, Punk seems like a bad striker and Sage can get saucy with kicks. Worst case scenario, Sage blows his doors off in highlight reel fashion.

5) Sage is a lightweight so at least Punk will have some discernible advantage coming into the fight unlike his fight with Gall where he is at a loss in every category save name value.

6) A Sage-Punk fight is the perfect way to insulate both fighters from a loss. If Punk loses, he loses to the UFC's "Next Big Thing" instead of a 2 - 0 fighter that no one's ever heard of. It also gets cartoon action ranger Northcutt in front of even more eyeballs (because Punk will bring in viewers) and actually get a push instead of Mickey Gall who no one is going to care about. If Sage loses, he loses to a guy 15 pounds heavier than he is, and he's 20 so a loss is really nothing major for him.

Seriously, Sage vs. CM Punk is the fight that should have been made. There is genuine upside if either fighter wins and it mitigates the downside of either side losing. It is an actual win-win.

Anyway, that's all for today. The first live episode of my podcast is happening today at 3 p.m. ET so if you're interested you can listen here. Otherwise, have a good weekend M.Rmy. Hope you enjoy the fights and we'll be back at it again on Monday.

If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting because we post dope things and you should enjoy them.