In an interview with Sports Illustrated earlier this week, Paul Heyman commented on the potential of CM Punk returning to the WWE down the line and surprising everyone.

“As of right now, ain’t no way he’s ever going back. I don’t know if I can make that statement in the future. I know his mindset is there’s absolutely no way. As for his mindset where he is in his journey, I think every moment he takes a breath is one moment closer to his debut, I think the only thing that he sees in his mind right now, 24/7, he is envisioning the moment they lock that octagon and the referee says ‘fight’.”

Heyman said that despite Punk’s recent setback due to injury, that Punk is driven to have his first UFC fight.

“Phillip Brooks does not have that athletic background. It makes it all the more improbable, which is exactly why he’s so driven to do it because he looks in the mirror and he sees not only a rebel and an uncompromising spokesman for the beliefs that are near and dear to him, but he sees someone that will defy conventional wisdom and pull off miracles if that’s what it takes because he has one shot in life and he wants to do something quite special with it.”

The interview is available in full at this link.