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Former WWE wrestler CM Punk has announced that he has joined the UFC, and will have his first fight in the Octagon next year.
CM Punk, birth name Phil Brooks, left the WWE back in January. He has never fought in professional mixed martial arts before.
UFC president Dana White said that CM Punk intends to fight at middleweight (185 pounds), but would be open to drop down to 170 pounds.
CM Punk made the announcement at UFC 181 last night.
"This is my new career, 100 percent," CM Punk said in a statement. "I'm going to go full steam ahead, all systems go after today, and it's going to be fun."
Show all 33 1 /33WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Wrestlemania 30 In front of of over 72,000 fans, Wrestlemania 30 gets underway!
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Triple H v Daniel Bryan Triple H sure knows how to make a Wrestlemania entrance...
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Triple H v Daniel Bryan As he prepares himself to return to the ring and take on Daniel Bryan for a place in the WWE World Heavyweight title Triple Threat, taking place later in the night
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Triple H v Daniel Bryan The pair square up against one-another, with The Game looking rather confident
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Triple H v Daniel Bryan HHH nails Bryan with an early spinebuster
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Triple H v Daniel Bryan But Bryan battled through to triumph and book his place in the main event
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Triple H v Daniel Bryan Much to Stephanie McMahon's anger, as 'Daddy's Little Girl' jumped in the ring and began an assault that Triple H would finish
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans The Shield v Kane & The New Age Outlaws The Shield were doing 'what's best for business' as they took on Kane, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans The Shield v Kane & The New Age Outlaws The match went back and forth between the six men
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans The Shield v Kane & The New Age Outlaws But The Hounds of Justice prevailed after Roman Reigns delivered a double-three-man-powerbomb
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Big Show was looking to emulate Andre The Giant in the Battle Royal named after the Hall of Famer
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal But Antonio Cesaro lifted the 400-pound giant up on his shoulders before eliminating him to win the coveted trophy
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal After eliminating the Big Show to win the Battle Royal, Antonio Cesaro shakes hands with his rival in a show of respect...
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Before lifting his trophy aloft for all to see
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Will the Swiss fighter capitalise on his Wrestlemania moment?
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Bray Wyatt v John Cena The deranged Bray Wyatt played all kind of mind-games with John Cena
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Bray Wyatt v John Cena And looked to be on the up when he delivered the Sister Abigail
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Bray Wyatt v John Cena Cena had to deal with the other two members of the Wyatt family at ringside, but found the aerial route to be the simplest
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Bray Wyatt v John Cena Wyatt then begged Cena to hit him...
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Bray Wyatt v John Cena But Cena chose to stick with what he knows best...
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Bray Wyatt v John Cena ...and delivered the Attitude Adjustment to pick up the win
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker The Undertaker made his spooky entrance to defend his 21-0 streak against Brock Lesnar
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker Fans looked on the The Phenom entered the ring
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker The two stared down each other before all hell broke lose
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker The undertaker used all the tricks in his very large book to take down Lesnar
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker With countless leg-drops to the body of the his opponent
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker He nailed Lesnar with his coveted chokeslam
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker But Lesnar fought back and spectacularly landed the F-5 on The Deadman
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker Shocking the world, Lesnar pinned The Undertaker, and became the man who did what names such as Batista, Shawn Michaels and Triple H couldn't do
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker Paul Heyman couldn't believe his eyes even though he raised Lesnar's hand in victory
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker But the fans were left even more stunned at what they saw
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker And it was left to Lesnar to celebrate ending the streak, leaving The Undertaker 21-1
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WWE Wrestlemania 30 - The best pictures from New Orleans Randy Orton v Batista v Daniel Bryan It was left to Bryan to close the night by finally winning the WWE World Heavyweight title, and soaking up the adulation of the adoring fans
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"He wanted to fight here," White told ESPN.com. "He wanted to give it a shot, so we gave him an opportunity. It's not like Brock Lesnar. We're not going to throw the kitchen sink at him. Lesnar had a wrestling background. [CM Punk] is going to fight a guy who is 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 -- something like that."
CM Punk added: "My professional wrestling days are over, it's awesome to be here. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time.
"I felt like it was now or never. I have a limited window most fighters don't have. I'm either here to win or get my ass kicked."
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