Ex-WWE champion CM Punk is set to have his debut match on fighting's biggest stage as he heads to his first UFC match sometime next year.

In an interview with MMA Junkie, the 36-year-old pro said, "I feel my fight already sells itself."

There has been buzz around whether he would enjoy the same attention he did when he was still wrestling in the WWE. It is not a secret that fights in the WWE are manufactured and predetermined to a degree, as exhibited in a Huffington Post article.

But the newbie MMA fighter is not having any doubts. "There's a curiosity factor, but I don't think I'll be that guy that manufactures some kind of phony beef to try to sell a fight," Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, said. "If I fight somebody I generally dislike, then it's on.," he told MMAjunkie.

Since Punk announced his arrival in the UFC in December 2014, he hasn't stepped inside the Octagon to fight yet. He said he will fight when he and his coaches believe he is ready for competition. He is now based in Milwaukee at the Roufusport Academy, according to MMA Fighting.

Coming to the UFC

UFC President Dana White announced Punk's arrival in the MMA circuit through a post on Twitter:

During the UFC 181, White told ESPN: "He wanted to fight here. He wanted to give it a shot, so we gave him an opportunity." White said that Punk's case is different with Brock Lesnar's who came to the UFC with a splash. "We're not going to throw the kitchen sink at him. Lesnar had a wrestling background. [CM Punk] is going to fight a guy who is 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 -- something like that," White added.

"This is my new career, 100 percent," CM Punk said in an interview with Fox Sports Wisconsin. "I'm going to go full steam ahead, all systems go after today, and it's going to be fun."

In the same interview held a few days after his announcement, Punk was also asked about the reasons and the timing in which he joined the UFC. "Because I'm not getting any younger. I'm the kind of guy that jumps at an opportunity. I'm sure you're going to ask, and I understand all the criticism levied towards myself and UFC, but at the end of the day I'm the one getting in there, I'm the one putting my neck out on the line," the fighter explained.

Punk continued that he is not entering the promotion thinking that he is a sure-fire winner. "If I fail, I fail in front of the entire world. To me that's the juice, it's all about the action. I've been thinking about doing it for a very, very, very long time. The opportunity presented itself, so I'd be a fool to say no," Punk added.