CM Punk Needs to Have Back Surgery and Probably Won’t Make His UFC Debut This Summer

CM Punk is scheduled to undergo back surgery today.

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Those MMA fans who are anxiously awaiting CM Punk’s first fight with the UFC will have to wait a little longer.

Punk was scheduled to take on Mickey Gall at UFC 200 this summer in his first fight since joining the UFC in late 2014. But he just revealed that he is going to undergo back surgery today to repair a back injury that has been bothering him for a few years now.

“My back has always bugged me,” he told MMAFighting.com. “Figured it was just wrestling [expletive]. Turns out, it was. It got bad enough to the point where I couldn’t do anything the week before I went to train with the New Jersey Devils last month. One day I could manage, the next day I couldn’t. I’ve been in agony for almost a month. Chiropractor, acupuncture, massage, cryotherapy…nothing worked.”

Hopefully, surgery will help. But in the meantime, we’re all going to be forced to wait on Punk while he heals. His recovery is expected to take between four and six weeks and will likely push his fight with Gall into the fall. Stay tuned for additional details—and make sure you check out the CM Punk feature we published last week.

Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com.

[via MMA Fighting]

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