UFC 196: CM Punk will watch potential opponent for MMA debut at event, says Dana White

Dana White said CM Punk will be at UFC 196 to watch his potential opponent for the former WWE superstar’s MMA debut.

White, the UFC president, announced to an interview with Off The Record host Michael Landsberg that he will be bring Mickey Gall, Punk’s potential opponent, to the preliminary fights of UFC 196, which will be headlined by the heavyweight clash between Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum.

"I'm bringing Mickey Gall in, and he's going to fight a kid named Michael Jackson," White said. "They're going to fight on the prelims, on February 6th on Fight Pass, and if he wins that fight, Mickey Gall will fight CM Punk. And CM Punk will be there at the fight to watch."

If Gall wins, he will have the chance to fight Punk, which would possibly be at UFC 200 in July. But according to Matt Boone of MMA News, there is a belief that White has already decided on Punk vs Gall and are simply doing an early promotion.

Gall, who has been training with UFC veterans Jim and Dan Miller, competed in his first professional MMA fight in the main event of the Dead Serious 17 in Philadelphia, which was featured in White’s new reality series. The 23-year-old welterweight, who called out Punk following his victory over Ron Templeton via first-round submission, is “supremely confident” that he could defeat the former WWE star when they meet inside the Octagon.

“I finish CM Punk,” Gall said, reports Fox Sports. “I’m not sure if I knock him out or I submit him, but I think it ends and I think it ends in the first round.”