Alberto "El Patron" Del Rio Defends CM Punk's Debut UFC Fight

Alberto "El Patron" Del Rio and CM Punk are kindred spirits when it comes to their WWE careers. Both have won Heavyweight championships where the other man was the opponent and both Punk and Del Rio had bridge-burning exits from the company. Punk left after injuries and creative frustrations became too much, while Del Rio left the company when someone in it made fun of Mexicans. This led to an altercation where Del Rio punched the culprit. So it only makes sense that Del Rio has had kind words for Punk's upcoming UFC debut fight. According to Del Rio, he thinks Punk will do a great job.

Del Rio got into Punk's MMA debut when asked about his own fighting background by the Bleacher Report. He says that Punk had been training since they were with WWE.

A photo posted by CM Punk (@cmpunk.ufc) on Aug 11, 2015 at 4:18pm PDT

"When we were working together in WWE, he was already training. He was doing some jiu-jitsu and was always interested in fighting. When those problems happened between him and WWE, I think he decided it was his chance to really go for it," Del Rio said.

"Everybody is asking me if he's really going to fight or if he'll eventually decide not to at the last minute. CM Punk is my friend, but I'm not saying this because he's my friend. He's an athlete. He's getting in the best shape of his life. He's getting ready for what's coming. He'll fight. I don't know when, but I know he's going to do a good job," Del Rio continued.

During an interview with Sporting News, Del Rio also spoke about Punk's UFC debut. He said there were a lot of people that don't want him to do well. Despite that, he's positive Punk will succeed. "I know he's going to be ready. He's an athlete," he said. "He has the passion. He's hungry for that and I know a lot of people want him to not do well. I'm 100 percent sure he's going to do just fine. I'm going to be there that day to support him and I just wish him success. Not luck because he doesn't need luck. He's going to succeed in this venture."

Repost: @danielswbjj A photo posted by CM Punk (@cmpunk.ufc) on May 13, 2015 at 3:10am PDT