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Will Alberto Del Rio Ever Face Off Against CM Punk, MMA Style?

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By @nickmarsico

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Bellator president Scott Coker has confirmed that he has been communicating with the former Alberto Del Rio, real name Jose Rodriguez, about coming to his promotion to fight. The current heavyweight champion of Mexican wrestling promotion AAA has a successful history as a mixed martial artist, boasting a record of 9-5, fighting for DEEP, Pride and Cage of Combat.

His last fight was a loss that occurred just under five years ago. The biggest name he stepped into competition with was Pride legend Mirko Cro Cop, who disposed of him with a head kick 46 seconds into the first round.

Coker already has one former WWE (and current TNA) wrestler on his roster, the very successful Bobby Lashley. Rodriguez, it should be noted, was scheduled to wrestle in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, but was unable to compete when the Mexican team was unable to raise enough money to send their wrestlers to compete in the Games.

This brings us to CM Punk. As has been made very clear, UFC President Dana White signed CM Punk even though he has no prior history as an amateur wrestler, and with Punk’s only MMA experience coming from his training and sparring with friend Renzo Gracie and others from the Gracie family. White and Coker both subscribe to the school of wanting to draw attention to their product by inking high-profile deals and making big announcements.

It’s even been rumored that Bellator will make a bid to obtain the talents of one Brock Lesnar, although there isn’t much of a chance that they will even receive a serious response from the Lesnar camp.

So, could we eventually see a fight between former WWE enemies CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio? Punk would have to fight above his weight class and Del Rio would have to shed a good bit of weight for the fight to even be feasible, but both men are the same age. If Punk can get some wins under his belt and Del Rio does decide to get back into fighting, you know that putting a fight in the Octagon pitting two former WWE wrestlers against each other would be something White would chomp at the bit to make happen.

Would it be a spectacle? Yeah. Could it end up being a blight on UFC’s resume? Sure. Would it make money? Absolutely.

This is all crazy speculation, just like Bellator ever getting Lesnar to sign. Lashley has, however, stated that he would be more than willing to step into battle against Lesnar. Of course, for it to happen, Del Rio would have to end up in the UFC at some point, but hey, less likely things have happened.

Nicholas A. Marsico is a Pro Wrestling and MMA writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook!

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