Is it time for the UFC to curtail the CM Punk hype?

With Wednesday's news that the debut of WWE superstar-turned-UFC fighter CM Punk will be delayed by at least a month due to a back injury, the ongoing saga of his budding MMA career has taken another step toward farce.

The latest setback appears relatively minor compared to previous impediments that have kept him from making the walk to the Octagon, but the timing couldn't be worse considering the UFC had finally found an opponent for Punk in Mickey Gall, who defeated Mike Jackson at UFC Fight Night 82 to earn the spot.

The question is, what upside remains when Punk actually fights?

Punk is a 37-year-old former professional wrestler who has put his body through incredible stress for the past 16 years. The UFC has to accept the possibility that, even when Punk does compete, his inexperience combined with mounting injuries could lead to a disastrous outcome.

The intrigue in Punk has been palpable since the UFC signed him in 2014 to bolster a roster in need of an injection of star power in the absence of household names like Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva. Future stars like Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor were still in the nascent stages of notoriety.

Regardless of his lack of sanctioned combat sports experience, Punk still carried the cachet of someone who was a featured performer for one of the largest entertainment entities in the world.

Fourteen months after Punk's signing, though, the UFC is trending upwards and can afford to scale back its coverage of "The Straight Edge Superstar," and might have to if Dana White wants to salvage this thing.

There was no need to bring him into the cage after Gall's win, dedicate so much interview time to Punk before and after the show, or for his now-delayed debut to overshadow Stephen Thompson's thrilling upset of Johny Hendricks.

These are the kinds of decisions that create resentment and ridicule.

Even making Gall fight for the right to face Punk bordered on absurd, a matchmaking decision that had more in common with Punk's previous realm in WWE than his current one.

It's hard to see how this turns out well for Punk. If Gall wins, it will feed the flames of every critic who's called out the UFC and Punk for putting on this charade; if Punk wins, we'll end up back where we are now, hoping he doesn't get hurt and that the UFC can find another borderline amateur to match up with him.

Preaching moderation in a sport that often prioritizes hype over performance may seem like a fool's errand, but it's not too late for the UFC to properly manage expectations for Punk.

Put him on the poster. Make Gall-Punk the opening fight of a PPV broadcast. Let Punk cut a five-minute promo whether or not he has his hand raised.

But let's stop treating this like it's more than a fascinating sideshow that was never meant to have a long-term impact.