CM Punk To Undergo Surgery, UFC Debut Delayed

CM Punk, who was set to make his UFC debut against Mickey Gall in either June or July, revealed on Wednesday that he will have to undergo back surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck.

According to Punk, he has had a bad back for sometime, but figured it was due to his wrestling career. However, it got worse and worse as he trained. 

“My back has always bugged me,” Punk said to MMA Fighting.com. “Figured it was just wrestling s***. Turns out it was. It got bad enough to the point where I couldn’t do anything the week before I went to train with the New Jersey Devils last month. One day I could manage, the next day I couldn’t. I’ve been in agony for almost a month. Chiropractor, acupuncture, massage, cryotherapy … nothing worked.

According to Punk, his doctors told him before last Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 82 event that he would have to undergo surgery. Which is weird for him not to tell UFC officials about it right then and there. Punk would go onto say after the event in an interview he would be ready to go by June or July. UFC President Dana White even did an interview at the event saying that he would talk with Punk in which event he would like to fight at. Punk said to MMA Fighting that he wanted to keep the news quiet. 

Punk believes that this is just a bump in the road for him.

“This is just a bump in the road. I’m positive about this.”

Punk said in the interview that his post-surgery recovery is expected to be four-to-six weeks and plans to fight in 2016.