On Saturday night at UFC 225, the CM Punk experiment in the UFC most likely came to an end when Punk fell to 0-2 in his professional fighting career, losing a one-sided decision to Mike Jackson. Afterwards, UFC President Dana White was furious with Jackson for not taking the fight seriously and said he wouldn’t even give Jackson a shot in the Contender Series going forward, much less a chance in the UFC. But maybe White’s tune could change though now that another WWE superstar is showing interest in fighting Jackson.

Professional wrestler Daniel Bryan made a brief appearance on his wife Brie Bella’s recent Instagram Live post, saying that he could definitely out-grapple Jackson.

“Did they just ask me if I could beat Mike Jackson in a fight?,” Bryan said. “I could beat him on the ground, for sure, I think. If the WWE would let me fight in the UFC, maybe [I would prove it].”

Never one to take things lying down, Jackson quickly responded to Bryan, telling FanSided that he was surprised by Bryan’s call out but he’s more than willing to oblige and beat up another WWE superstar.

“A friend of mine, who is a journalist reached out and said, ‘Yo, did you hear Daniel Bryan called you out?’” Jackson said. “I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ He sends it to me and I remember seeing that headline. I was like, ‘Yo, this is getting out of control now.’

“He says, ‘Man, I can beat him on the ground in a UFC fight.’ Look Daniel Bryan; I will do you worse than I did your man Punk because I will have no reservations in punching this guy in the face 100-percent. And at will. . .

“If Daniel Bryan wants the smoke, just call me the chimney man because I’ve got the smoke.”

Jackson also took to social media to respond to Bryan, warning him not to bite off more than he can chew.

And while before all of this could have been seen as just an off-hand comment made by Bryan, now at least the WWE star seems to be legitimately interested in the possibility.

Bryan has been a long-time follower of MMA and frequented Xtreme Couture in 2009 for training. He currently holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In 2016, Bryan retired from professional wrestling due to ongoing injury issues, primarily continuing problems as a result of numerous concussions (at least 10). He returned to active wrestling this year after being cleared by a team of medical experts.

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MUST-READ STORIES

DWTNCS. Two contracts were awarded last night on the Contender Series.

Beef. Tyron Woodley on Colby Covington : ‘He’s the sh*t on the bottom of my foot.’

Bad guy. Rafael dos Anjos on UFC 225 loss: ‘Bad guys win sometimes in real life.’

Excuses. Claudia Gadelha responds to Carla Esparza’s greasing accusations: ‘Excuses.’

USADA. Michal Oleksiejczuk suspended one year for testing positive for clomiphene.

Sue. Agent Malki Kawa says Yoel Romero plans lawsuit against Illinois State Athletic Commission.

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VIDEO STEW

The final MMA After Hour with Ric’s picks.

Fight Motion!

A primer on the UFC’s history of dealing with domestic violence.

Continuing the series.

Woodley getting the promotional train rolling. He’s been everywhere the last few days.

KSW 44 highlights.

The animated version of Whittaker-Romero.

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LISTEN UP

LT Cast. Immediate reaction to the Contender Series results and signing Greg Hardy.

Fights Gone By. Jack Slack on the brilliant Whittaker-Romero rematch.

The MMA Circus. Recapping UFC 225: Whittaker vs. Romero.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Jon got on the Twitter machine yesterday.

Unfortunate.

Disgusting.

Masvidal is itchy to get in there.

Truth.

Fighters are really unhappy about this and still not one of them is saying “I guess I’ll stop killing myself with dehydration.”

Chase Sherman knows how to make things happen.

Congrats.

Somehow this dude didn’t get signed.

Not entirely sure what’s going on here but DJ crushes T-Wood.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

N/A.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2009: Rich Franklin won a unanimous decision over Wanderlei Silva in their fight at UFC 99. The two would go on to rematch at UFC 147 with Franklin winning that bout as well.

2015: Fabricio Werdum became the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion when he submitted Cain Velasquez with a guillotine choke in their title unifcation bout at UFC 188.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

As always, thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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