WLWB Special: CM Punk vs. Mickey Gall at #UFC203

By Brandon Albright, @B_Rock1978

Wrestling Lockup with Brandon, brought to you by Triple Threat CLE brings you a special edition of the CM Punk vs. Mickey Gall fight from UFC 203.

Normally I'm the wrestling guy that brings you your wrestling recaps and news on a weekly basis. But today I'm bringing you something special. Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Phil "CM Punk" Brooks finally made his UFC debut last night, after almost a two year wait after signing on. Injuries and a minor debate on who would be Punk's first opponent sidelined the "cult of personality" from any UFC action during that two year hiatus. After returning from injury, marrying his wrestling crush April Jeanette Mendez (AJ Lee), and getting back into fighting shape, UFC finally decided on Mickey Gall as Punk's first opponent, at UFC 203, live from Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Punk, the popular former WWE main eventer had very little to no significant martial arts experience at all before signing with the UFC in December of 2014. Punk signed on with Roufusport in Milwaukee for about a year and a half, where he did his MMA training. In Punk's own opinion he feels that he has improved a lot since first walking in the door. Punk was ready to debut at UFC 200, where UFC planned to have the two former and current WWE superstars Punk and Brock Lesnar compete.

Punk's training and debut against Mickey Gall were put on hiatus, however, as a herniated disc in Punk's back forced him to drop out of training and UFC 200 altogether until getting his back issue taken care of. After surgery and getting back into training, Punk credited the surgery as giving him a new lease on life and feeling better than ever.

"I think once I had an opponent, once I had a date and once I was free of that damn herniated disc I was walking around with for who knows how long, I was a different person, It's one thing to train, it's another thing to train with a singular purpose and that's what I got in Mickey Gall. I know this is a difficult sport to master. I look forward to mastering it sometime and I realize that will probably never happen, but I will get as good as I possibly can."

*** Tale Of The Tape ***

Mickey Gall entered his third professional MMA fight, holding a record of 2-0. Both of Gall's wins were by submission, which makes Gall a huge threat in submission style wrestling. Gall is 24 year's old, 13 years younger than Punk, which forced many to already give the advantage to Gall. Gall stands in at 5' 11" and weighs 170 pounds, where Punk came in at 6' 1" and weighed 170 pounds, 40 pounds lighter than what he wrestled under in the WWE.

*** The Weigh In ***

This past Friday in Cleveland, both men weighed in for their battle on Saturday night. After the weigh in, Mickey Gall extended his hand for a hand shake, but CM Punk snubbed him and instead gave him a death stare. Gall had a few choice words for Punk's disrespect before walking away, as UFC President Dana White smiled in the background like a cat that just ate a canary.

Punk was asked what exactly did Gall say to him during the weigh in and Punk answered in his usual cockiness.

"I don't know, he was stuttering. He kept repeating, ‘Oh you don't want to shake my hand, you don't want to shake my hand' or something like that. I'm not here to shake anybody's hand. I'm here to punch people in the face."

Punk was also asked how happy he was with his weigh in and Punk stated he wasn't happy with the 170 pound weigh in.

"Cutting weight was not fun, but I had coach Duke Roufus and teammates like Anthony Pettis and Erik Koch for advice. I'm not gonna say it was easy, there's a level of difficulty that goes along with it and I'm a fat kid at heart and I love food and that's obviously the hardest part."

** CM Punk vs. Mickey Gall UFC 203 **

- Round One: Unfortunately for Punk, his debut was not one to remember. Gall takes down Punk and immediately got in some ground and pound. Gall went around to Punk's back and locked in a rear naked choke submission. Punk was able to escape for a brief moment, but Gall locks in the rear naked choke submission again. Gall locks it tight and Punk taps out at 2:14. Punk's face wasn't too pretty when it was all said and done.

So there you have it, CM Punk's long awaited debut ending with a loss by submission. What lies ahead next for Punk in UFC? Only Dana White knows.

"You go BIG or you go home" - @CMPunk #UFC203 https://t.co/H4LEnkXwmI

— UFC (@ufc) September 11, 2016

The Puck Drops Here 11.18.15: What's Happened With The Blue Jackets? #CBJ

By @CLulovics

Well let's face it. The start to the 2015-2016 NHL season for the Columbus Blue Jackets did not start how anyone including national annalists envisioned it. After starting the season 0-8, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen to fire head coach Todd Richards and replace him with John Tortorella. Tortorella who previously coached for the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and most recently the Vancouver Canucks brings an overall head coaching record of 444-371 to go along with 8 playoff appearances and 1 Stanley Cup Championship.

Boone Jenner, Brandon Saad, Scott Hartnell and Brandon Dubinsky have been their usual selves providing the offense with the needed spark along with scoring points. Sergei Bobrovsky has not been his usual stellar self. Not all the blame can be put on Bobrovsky though. As national writers along with annalists said before the season even started, the Blue Jackets defense hasn't helped out their goalie. Some lapses along with miscues have spelled doom for both Bobrovsky and the blue line in the early stages of the young NHL season. But with Tortorella at the helm now it seems to be that those little yet huge mistakes seem to be disappearing and the Blue Jackets are playing a better overall game.

The Blue Jackets minor league affiliate the Lake Erie Monsters currently sit at 8-3-0-2 on their young season for 14 points and 3rd in the Central Division in the Western Conference as of this writing. Leading the Monsters in points is Kerby Rychel sitting at 4 goals 7 assists for 11 points while splitting time between the Monsters and the Blue Jackets. With a lot of young talent the Monsters will continue to be fun to watch downtown at Quicken Loans Arena and is a good event to take the family too.

While the Columbus Blue Jackets are currently 7-12, anything can happen in the NHL and they certainly are not out of it. But they have to pick up the pace soon otherwise their playoff hopes and dreams might fade quickly. This team has the talent to turn this whole thing around as long as they play their type of game which they didn't in the start of the season but seem to be coming back around too. Tortorella might just be the spark that this team needs especially with a lot of hockey left to be played.

As always CARRY THE FLAG, MARCH ON, WE ARE THE FIFTH LINE, ALL OF US and see you guys either at Nationwide Arena in Columbus or in downtown Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena.

Leadoff with Lee 8.21.14

-Tuesday afternoon Mike Pettine wasn't prepared to name a starter, but that all changed Wednesday morning when he told the world Brian Hoyer was going to be the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback. Johnny Manziel didn't seemed fazed that he was going to be a backup and simply said, "I'm not ready to be the Browns starting quarterback". In my opinion, it's either lack of leadership, lack of composure or lack of knowledge of the playbook. Either way, he needs to get mentally tough and grasp the playbook and study with Rex Grossman so he can wrap his head around this situation and earn his place.

-Defensive end Desmond Bryant may miss the season opener against Pittsburgh. Bryant had surgery on his wrist Monday and his status will be re-evaluated in 2 weeks to check how well it heals.

-Another Browns player was under the knife Monday in Buster Skrine. Skrine had a fractured thumb and will be re-evaluated weekly.

-Since we are talking surgeries, Nick "Brohio" Swisher had surgery on both knees yesterday to alleviate pain and hopefully prolong his career. Swisher, 33, is obviously out for the remainder if the season. Swisher hopes to make a strong comeback for the 2015 season. I'm sure he's not happy about his 2014 season, besides the paycheck he's getting.

-Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavs will invest $23 million dollars into Quicken Loans Arena for the upcoming basketball season. Upgrades will include a new scoreboard, sound system and video production room. A new roof is also on deck for the 20 year old structure.

-The US Men's National Basketball team destroyed the Dominican Republic, 105-62 in FIBA exhibition play last night at Madison Square Garden in New York. Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving shot 5 for 5 for 12 points and also had 5 assists. Irving got the start over Derrick Rose who was resting his knees. The current 16 man roster is expected to be reduced to 12 for World Cup play later today. Irving should be a lock to make the team.

-The Indians won their second straight game, besting the Minnesota Twins 5-0. Starter TJ House got the win for the Tribe, going 5.1 innings, giving up only four hits with all of them being singles. He also struck out five. Mike Aviles went 3 for 4, hitting a home run and knocking in 2, with a run scored and a steal. New Indians fan favorite Zach Walters also hit a homer for the Tribe. Every player in the Indians lineup had at least one hit, except Michael Brantley who went 0-4. The Indians improve to 64-61 and remain 4 1/2 games out from the last wildcard spot.

-Pittsburgh Steelers running backs Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount were pulled over early Wednesday morning and charged with possession of marijuana (20 grams to be exact), while Bell was also charged with DUI. It's going to be interesting to see how Roger Goodell handles this one.