CM Punk lost his second career mixed martial arts bout at UFC 225: Whittaker vs. Romero 2 on Saturday. Punk lost a unanimous decision to Mike Jackson in the main card welterweight bout. All three judges gave it to Jackson.
CM Punk loses 2nd MMA fight to Mike Jackson at UFC 225
Punk is now 0-2 as a mixed martial artist after losing a unanimous decision to Jackson on Saturday.
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It was a pretty poor showing from Punk, who was outclassed standing and was unable to consistently get the takedowns he needed to take it to Jackson. He seemed exhausted by the middle of the second round.
In the first round, Punk landed a couple strong punches and controlled Jackson well against the fence. He even landed one of his takedown attempts near the end of the round, but his nose was bloodied and Jackson got the better of the exchanges.
In the second, Jackson really took over when he staggered Punk with a hand overhand right against the fence. Punk tried to hook in a guillotine and it was a good effort, but Jackson got out of it and had top position for the remainder of the round. From there, he rained down ground-and-pound and had Punk’s face bloodied up big time.
Punk’s corner kept asking him not to punch from his back, but Punk seemed out of it by that point. In the third, Punk tried for multiple takedowns, and ate some hard punches from Jackson, who seemed flippant about the whole thing. He may have been cocky and showing off at that point in the third, when Punk was totally exhausted.
Both Punk and Jackson started their MMA careers with first-round rear-naked choke losses to Mickey Gall, so it made sense for them to be opponents in their second career matches.
Jackson was asked what it meant for him to win after all the pre-fight build-up and the celebratory of it, and he said that he liked the media, and that he “digs it.” Punk did not do a post-fight interview.
