“Full-blown sparring, like going in there and doing the most simulated thing you can do besides stepping into an octagon -- I’ve only done that with some inexperienced people just a few times,” Brooks said in a December interview on Fox Sports Live. “I mentioned in the ‘Rolling Stone’ article that striking would be my biggest weakness. When I say sparring with killers, there’s a lot of guys out there that are amazing at striking and I would love to learn from them, but I’m not going to be sparring with them in the next 15 minutes or anything like that.”
Well, it appears that Punk is finally getting his feet wet in that regard. On Tuesday, Roufusport head trainer Duke Roufus posted a picture on Instagram of the Chicago native’s first sparring session at the Milwaukee-based gym.
The aspiring UFC middleweight apparently went head-to-head with welterweight talent Craig Eckelberg, who has compiled a 4-0 record on the regional circuit since turning pro in January 2014.
“Punk has some things to work on, but he showed a lot of [potential],” Roufus wrote.
A date for Punk’s Octagon debut has not been set.