The UFC Should Keep CM Punk On The Roster
Even though CM Punk lost his fight at UFC 203 which severely hurts the amount of money that the UFC can make from his celebrity, the company should still keep him on the roster. Due to the fact that, the UFC has an opportunity at their disposal to use the popularity that CM Punk has accumulated during his time in pro wrestling as a way to accelerate the growth of fight pass. This is because Punk has a large number of loyal fans (2.63 million followers on Twitter) who like to keep up-to-date with his daily life. Therefore it would behoove the UFC to keep Punk under contract because they have a chance to promote him as the face of fight pass without lowering the prestige of the promotion. For instance, the UFC can send him to a promotion who has a digital distribution deal with fight pass and have him face a fighter that is at his level. As a result of this, the UFC can continue to profit from the celebrity status of CM Punk without having to face criticism from the media and fans that he is not a UFC caliber fighter. This is because the UFC has promoted fight pass as a streaming network that gives fans a chance to get to know up and coming fighters who have potential to be in the company within a few years.
Consequently, the UFC can kill two birds with one stone because they can book him on a fight pass card which will lead him to promote the card on his personal Twitter account. As a result, his loyal fans will have the opportunity to follow his progression in mixed martial arts. Therefore CM Punk has unintentionally exposed a portion of his fanbase to fight pass network which means the company has an opportunity to turn them into fans. For instance, if his fans like the fights they see before he comes out it is more likely that they keep their fight pass subscription (9.99 per month) and come back for the next card. Furthermore, fight pass will allow CM Punk and the company to see whether he is developing his skills as a fighter and if he has the passion to keep fighting after a few more fights.
