What CM Punk said to Gall in the Octagon after the fight

Former WWE superstar CM Punk tried his hand at elite mixed martial arts, and came up short – he was beaten silly by Mickey Gall on the main card of UFC 203.

Afterwards, Punk came over to Gall’s corner, and offered some words of advice. It was clear during the live broadcast that he was saying something, but not what.

Now a preview for the UFC Fight Pass exclusiveUFC 203: The Thrill and the Agony reveals exactly what Punk said. It was apparently inspired by Gall saying he didn’t belong on the poster.

“Listen to me,” began Punk. “Don’t ever say you don’t belong. OK? You always belong. You’ve got to believe in yourself. You’re obviously a better man than I am. OK? Don’t ever short yourself. Everybody else wants to short you. You know, I believed in myself. You’ve got to believe in yourself as much as I believe in me.”

UFC color commentator Joe Rogan recently said he did not want to interview fighters who had just been knocked out. So maybe CM Punk had his rational thought processes rattled by Gall.

But is also possible that CM Punk has spent so much time as a pro wrestler in delusion and self-affirmation, and so little time in MMA in reality, that he believes what he said, still.

Mickey Gall is a smart person. He is a real fighter. He knows he did not belong on this poster.

Stipe Miocic is the UFC heavyweight champion. Alistair Overeem is the former K-1 champion, former Strikeforce champion, former DREAM champion. Fabricio Werdum is the former UFC heavyweight champion. Ben Rothwell, who dropped out due to injury, has been fighting professionally for 15 years, is the only person to ever submit former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett, beat former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez, recently beat Alistair Overeem.

By contrast, Gall was 1-0 as a pro when he was plucked from Dead Serious MMA 17 in Philly by UFC president Dana White to face CM Punk. Mickey Gall did great, but didn’t yet belong in the UFC, never mind on the poster.

Gall is honest with himself; CM Punk not so much. And that may lie at the heart of what went wrong for the pro wrestler.

Mixed martial arts is one of the most honest spaces in human existence. Your delusions are stripped away, and all that matters is an honest test of some central aspects of who you are.

As a culture, we fed a stream of pablum along the lines of “if your mind can conceive, you will achieve, if you only believe.”

The reality in fighting is that many people are driven not by delusions of self-glory, but by self-doubt so deep that it fuels The Grind, year after year.

Conceive-achieve-beliebe can prove inspirational, but it’s only useful if it inspires say 10,000 hours of hard work. Punk put in perhaps three times a week in the gym, perhaps more, perhaps for two hours a class, perhaps more, on and off for 18 months. An incredibly generous accounting would be 1,000 hours of hard work.

It wasn’t nearly enough. He hung tough, but stunk up the Octagon with his lack of technique. He didn’t inspire anyone to follow their dreams. He’s an object lesson in what happens to people who are not honest with themselves.

It would be sad if the beating didn’t make clear to CM Punk one of the oldest rules in actual sports – “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” You don’t prepare to win in the Octagon with 18 months of off and on training.

CM Punk got paid $500,000 and perhaps millions if he got a cut of the PPV, but he didn’t pay his dues. He can opine endlessly about believe and achieve and frost heave, but he didn’t pay his dues.

It will be interesting to see if he does.