Absolutely - you don't need to convince me that the fight business is a business first and foremost
That's exactly the context in which I couldn't understand why they'd want to do something like put CM Punk on TUF though. TUF doesn't actually make the UFC much money, even if he did somehow bump ratings up a bit. They don't need to build Punk as a star because he's
already as well known as he's ever going to be.
Maybe there'd be some more hype around his next fight if he somehow ran the gauntlet and had a deep run on the show, but that's a massive gamble to take. We all know the more likely outcome is that he gets finished quickly by the first person he fights, because he's a 38-year old with an injury history a mile long who only started serious MMA training a few years ago, and his one alleged skill set (BJJ) is the easiest one for any borderline competent fighter to neutralise.
If he loses badly on TUF then there's pretty much no way they can use him in the UFC again. If they don't do it,
mabye they can get one more PPV out of him by claiming it was a fluke loss and he really is better than he seemed against Gall. We'll know it's a guddam lie, but they'll probably fool enough people into believing it to make it worth their while making the fight.
