Coach Duke Roufus drops hint about CM Punk’s next fight

Duke Roufus serves as the coach of several of the UFC’s top fighters, from UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley, who defeated Demian Maia over the weekend, to UFC flyweight contender Sergio Pettis, who takes on Brandon Moreno in the main event of UFC Fight Night 114 this weekend. Roufus also serves as the head MMA coach of former WWE star CM Punk.

Punk, of course, lost his lone MMA bout, which occured at UFC 203 last September, quite decisively. Though he showed off plenty of heart, he was tapped very quickly by his foe Mickey Gall.

Since then, fans have been wondering if Punk will be given another shot in the UFC. He did, after all, prove to be quite the draw in the Octagon.

On Monday morning, Roufus dropped a pretty significant hint to this end. In an Instagram post that highlighted his team’s impressive 2017 record, Roufus suggested that Punk would be fighting against a to-be-announced opponent this year.

I am such a firm believer in #team Together Everyone Achieves More! Every year I strive to get better as a coach and build a great team culture. I am so proud of all of our team, staff and students. We Are Having Fun Getting It Done! I have the pleasure of being a part the team of current @ufc Welterweight Champion #tyronwoodley @twooodley former #ufc and #wec Champion #anthonypettis @showtimepettis Top Flyweight Contender #sergiopettis @sergiopettis #bellator Featherweight Contender #emanuelsanchez @matadorsanchez former #wwe Champion #cmpunk @cmpunk my longtime team member #erikkoch @kocheadufc rising KO Artist #paulfelder @felderpaul surging Welterweight #belalmuhammad @bullyb170 Bellator Middleweight #mikerhodes @teamrocbiggie and Middleweight Submission specialist #geraldmeerschaert @the_gm3 as members of our @roufusport team collectively they are 13-3, 9-2 in the UFC in 2-1 Bellator so far this year! The best has yet to come #roufusport #MartialArts is #Life thanks for the past & future memories. #onelove

A post shared by Duke Roufus (@dukeroufus) on Jul 31, 2017 at 6:51am PDT

Do you think CM Punk will be given another crack in the UFC, or is this wishful thinking from Duke Roufus?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/31/2017.