There is a strange cosmic symmetry in play for Phil Brooks. The man who wrestled in the WWE under the ring name of CM Punk will make his UFC debut on Saturday night when, for the first time in his entire life, he will stare across a ring at a real fighter.
And all of this happens inside the imaginatively named Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio - the scene of one of the most important days of his life just a three years prior. During a WWE event in this very arena, the by now hugely disgruntled WWE superstar marched into Vince McMahon's office to tell him that he was "going home" and was done with professional wrestling.
And it was at this moment, Punk explains, that he became a real fighter.
I think I jokingly might have said I was cursed in this building but I truly believe one of the best things that ever happened to me happened in this building. It was that.
It was a breaking point on both sides, it was something that needed to happen and it needed to happen dramatically. Things happen for a reason. I'm here now. There's a little bit of thought about how poetic that is but I'm comfortable here. I almost know the bowels of the building like the back of my hand so I feel at home.
Just a year after leaving McMahon (who in now suing him, incidentally), the now 37 year old Brooks inked a contract with the UFC despite having next to no real life fight experience. One year and nine months later, he is making his debut in the UFC's welterweight division, one of the most stacked divisions in mixed martial arts.
There are nerves, Punk admits. But he wouldn't have it any other way.
I've stated already that I'm sure I will have pre-fight butterflies but I'm actually looking forward to feeling that again. There was a lot time that, before I would go through a curtain, I would just sit there and be like, '[the butterflies], they're not coming, they're gone.' They were gone for a long time. I'm glad they're back.'
Saturday night will be a very revealing day. There will be a lot of eyes focused on CM Punk; some hoping for him to succeed and others hoping for him to fail.
"I'm happy", he says. "That's all that matters to me."
