Dana White Continues To Defend CM Punk From Criticism Over UFC 225 Performance

During a recent appearance on the MMA Roasted podcast, UFC President Dana White defended CM Punk from those who have voiced their criticism of his latest performance inside of the Octagon.

Former WWE Champion CM Punk fought Mike Jackson in a welterweight bout at the UFC 225 pay-per-view event on Saturday, June 9, 2018, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

As seen in the fight, Jackson dominated it and Punk showed a ton of heart but was winded after the first round. Jackson was able to pick up the unanimous decision win. Punk did not do a post-fight interview.

“A lot of people talk sh-t about CM, well, get in there. Come on over,” White said (transcript via MMANYTT). “Have a fight and fight one of these guys.”

“It’s easy to sit in your living room and talk sh-t. This guy was a huge star in WWE and he came over here and put it all on the line twice, man, in front of the whole world.

“If people can’t respect that, then they’re a f—king idiot. You can’t tell somebody ‘don’t do the thing that you want to do the most,’” White said. “CM Punk wanted to be a UFC fighter and he wanted to come here. He wanted it so bad that he dropped everything and focused on nothing but mixed martial arts.”

“If you talk to his team, next time you talk to Duke Roufus or Anthony Pettis, or any of those guys and talk about how this guy was driving back and forth from Chicago (to Milwaukee), how he would drive for hours and then train forever, you know. They all ended up respecting him.”