CM Punk is heading back to the MMA broadcast desk. Cage Fury Fighting Championships has announced that the seven-time WWE world champion will return as color commentator for CFFC 156: Stanford Lewis on Friday, June 26, live from Hard Rock Casino Rockford in Illinois — just outside of Punk’s hometown of Chicago.
The event’s main event features Jackson Stanford taking on Bevon Lewis for the CFFC interim heavyweight championship, and Punk will once again be joined at the commentary table by CFFC General Manager and veteran MMA journalist John Morgan.
Punk has been part of the CFFC broadcast team since 2018, a relationship that has persisted through some of the most eventful chapters of his career — including a brief retirement from professional wrestling, his return to the ring with AEW in 2021, and his subsequent return to WWE in late 2023. His appearances with CFFC became less frequent after rejoining WWE, but the promotion’s first-ever event in his home state of Illinois was apparently enough to bring him back to the mic.
The CFFC connection carries a bit of wrestling lore with it, too. During CFFC 99 in August 2021, Punk dropped a thinly veiled tease about his imminent wrestling return, describing a competitor as looking “All Elite” — a comment that landed just days before his surprise debut on AEW Rampage: The First Dance on August 20, 2021.
Punk’s last in-ring appearance came at WrestleMania 42 in April, where he lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns. His WWE status has been a subject of ongoing speculation since. The announcement of a high-profile public appearance is sure to keep that conversation going, and given Punk’s track record of working a crowd from the commentary booth, don’t be surprised if he leans into the speculation himself come June 26.
Source: WrestleTalk
