Mickey Gall: CM Punk Will Water Down The UFC

The UFC may have found themselves a new star in the form of welterweight Mickey Gall, who took out former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star CM Punk in his mixed martial arts (MMA) debut at UFC 203 in September.

Gall, a 24-year-old Brazilian jiu jitsu brown belt fighting out of Green Brook, New Jersey, recently joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (courtesy of MMA Fighting) to discuss his upcoming match-up with Sage Northcutt at this weekend’s UFC on FOX 22 event.

During the appearance Gall was asked how he thought Punk will fare in a second go-around inside the Octagon if the UFC allows him to compete under their banner once again:

“I think he’ll be dealt (with) the same way I dealt him,” Gall said. “If he fights a UFC caliber guy, I think they’ll do it in the same way. So I think in hindsight, he probably should’ve taken some regional fights, amateur fighters, smaller shows. But I think that’s ballsy of him to want to come back.”

Although Gall admits Punk’s name from the massive pro wrestling world will certainly bring new eyes to the sport, he also believes that allowing such an inexperienced fighter to compete in the sport’s ultimate proving ground ‘waters down’ the sport a bit:

“I don’t know. I mean, he’s definitely going to help your pay-per-view and he brings that other audience,” Gall said. “But for kinda the legitimacy of the sport, I think it may water it down a little bit.”

Gall got his crack at the UFC by calling out CM Punk during an episode of UFC President Dana White‘s Lookin For A Fight, a bout White granted him after a win over Mike Jackson at UFC Fight Night 82 in February. Now that Gall has moved on from the CM Punk saga and is on his way to bigger and brighter things, he looks to propel himself even further into stardom in the MMA world with a win over fellow top prospect Sage Northcutt.

Gall and Northcutt will meet at UFC on FOX 22 from the Golden 1 Arena in Sacramento, California on Saturday night (December 17, 2016).