At UFC 196, Mickey Gall Will Fight for a Shot at CM Punk

In December of 2014, during the pay-per-view broadcast of UFC 181, it was announced that former WWE champion Phil Brooks—better known by his ring name CM Punk—had signed with the UFC. It was big news for fans of the UFC and WWE alike, yet it was also a fairly controversial development.

Punk, of course, wasn't the first WWE superstar to make the jump to the Octagon. A few years' prior, fellow WWE champion Brock Lesnar did the same, and went so far as to win the UFC heavyweight crown.

Lesnar, however, was more than a former pro wrestler. He had an extensive collegiate wrestling resume to his name—the same base enjoyed by many top mixed martial artists, from Cain Velasquez to Johny Hendricks. Lesnar had also picked up a TKO win in K-1 before debuting in the UFC. Punk, on the other hand, signed to the UFC with no martial arts experience outside of a few years on the mats under Rener Gracie. Furthermore, Punk's being 36 years old at the time of his signing meant that he had a lot to learn and not a lot of time to learn it. So, being that the UFC is considered MMA's major league—the home to the sport's very best talent—it was easy to understand some of the criticism surrounding Punk's signing with the organization.

Well over a year later, however, Punk still hasn't set foot inside the Octagon. Though the WWE legend has been busy doing promotional work for the UFC, and apparently working hard under Duke Roufus in Milwaukee, he's yet to actually fight. That may soon change. On Wednesday, UFC President Dana White took to Michael Landsberg's Off the Record to announce that CM Punk finally has an opponent for his UFC debut. Well…sort of.

In the latest episode of Lookin' For a Fight—the same web-series that documented White's discovery of red-hot prospect Sage Northcutt—White, Matt Serra and Nick "The Tooth" Gullo took a trip to Philadelphia on a talent-hunting mission. There, they attended Dead Serious MMA 17, a local show where they would witness the pro debut of a 23-year-old welterweight named Mickey Gall. After winning with a first-round rear-naked choke, Gall proceeded to address a cage-side White and call out CM Punk. Based on White's comments on OTR, Gall's callout had the desired effect.

Watch an Mickey Gall compete in a grappling match below:

Apparently, the 23-year-old prospect will be making his UFC debut against fellow debutant Mike Jackson. The two are scheduled for a prelim scrap at UFC 196 on February 6. White told Landsberg that if Gall is successful in this fight he'll be given the job of welcoming Punk to the world of professional mixed martial arts.

"I'm bringing Mickey Gall in, and he's going to fight a kid named Michael Jackson," White said on the show. "If he wins that fight, Mickey Gall will fight CM Punk." The UFC president also confirmed that Punk will be in attendance for the UFC 196 bout.

This of course represents a massive opportunity for the young Gall. Should he defeat Jackson at UFC 196, he'll earn an opportunity that's been called for by a host of UFC notables, from Matt Brown, to John Howard, to Cathal Pendred; an opportunity that was even begged for by former NFL star Shawne Merriman and actor-turned-fighter Jason David Frank, who played the Green Ranger on Power Rangers. As White so aptly put it on OTR, Gall is "holding a lottery ticket with really good odds of winning the lottery."

So, there it is. After more than a year of wondering if CM Punk would ever actually step foot in the Octagon, we finally appear to be on the precipice of his doing so. Should Mickey Gall pass his test on the UFC 196 prelims, all signs point to his mixing it up with Punk before the year is out—perhaps even at the landmark UFC 200 this July. And whether you're excited about this possibility, or worried it delegitimizes the sport of mixed martial arts, there's simply no denying that you, like the rest of the MMA community, will be tuning in to watch the madness unfold.