Phil Brooks will have his chance to finally make his official UFC debut. Unfortunately, it won’t happen anytime soon.
According to Duke Roufus, Brooks’ trainer, CM Punk injured his shoulder while in training recently. Apparently, the former WWE star has hurt himself enough to force him to delay his debut in the UFC and take some time to heal.
“He got caught in a scramble, so right now he’s taking a little time off. He was doing great before that. His progress has been good. He’s got a great attitude and he’s a hard worker. He got a place in Milwaukee where he lives all week when he’s here training, so he’s in it to win it … We don’t have a hard date for his fight to force the issue, so making sure he’s completely healthy is possible,” Roufus said, according to a report from ESPN.com.
Roufus also revealed that Brooks will be seeing a doctor this coming October 14th to have his injury checked.
It was reported that Punk closed a deal with the UFC last December, but this news wasn’t taken lightly by some. A lot of of spectators criticized his decision to join the UFC knowing that he has zero experience in mixed martial arts. Punk didn’t sign up unprepared though. A few days after he signed up with the UFC, the former WWE wrestler revealed that he would be going to Milwaukee to train at Roufusport to help him with the transition from the WWW to MMA fighting in the octagon.
Roufus also said that Brooks’ progress as an MMA fighter is now at 50% of what he should accomplish before he makes his debut in the UFC. As for the target date of his debut in the octagon as a mixed martial artist, Roufus said that they are aiming for a date sometime in the summer. Of course this will all depend on the healing progress of his injury.
“We’re probably looking at a fight in the next six to 10 months. The injury throws us back one month. We had a ballpark. We were looking at mid- to late-spring. Now, we’ll just have to see how he comes back from the injury,” he said.