UFC Chairman Dana White caused a stir among MMA fans when he posted a picture on social media of him alongside WWE superstar and former UFC champion Brock Lesnar. It could have been a casual encounter between White and his former employee who just happened to have been in Vegas but Lesnar was rocking a UFC T-shirt which caused speculation as to whether he would return to the octagon.
Dana has since all but confirmed it in a radio interview with SiriusXM where he said that the chances of Lesnar fighting in the UFC again were not just good but "very, very, very good".
Source Lesnar in the WWE
It would be a controversial move by the UFC to re-sign the former champion, the 6'3, 265lbs monster has a history of using banned substances and his last outing in the UFC was overturned to a 'No Contest'. He managed to defeat Mark Hunt in a 3 round fight via unanimous decision at UFC 200 but then failed a drugs test after the fight.
For most people this was not a surprise and there was further controversy around the fight due to the UFC allowing him a special exemption from their rule in which fighters had to be in the USADA testing pool for 4 months before fighting. Many felt even before the fight it was an obvious tactic by the UFC to help Lesnar avoid any tests ahead of the fight in which a failure would have lead to it being cancelled. This caused Mark Hunt to take legal action against the UFC accusing them of racketeering and fraud, the UFC tried to get his case dismissed but were unsuccessful and so while Hunt is still actively competing for them he is in an ongoing legal case against the company.
Source Lesnar punishing Hunt on the ground
It's unlikely that Brock Lesnar is now clean after another stint in the WWE and so the UFC would likely have to pull some more moves to get around the rules and allow him to bypass the testing. With the Mark Hunt victory removed off his record Lesnar's MMA record is 5-3 and has officially lost his last 2 fights. But thanks to the huge popularity of pro wrestling and the increase in sales Lesnar is sure to bring it is obvious why the UFC want him back and will likely be willing to bend the rules again in order to make it happen.
Following his victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 Jon Jones called out Lesnar but somewhat ironically he also went on to have that fight turned into a No Contest also due to failing a post fight drugs test and has just recently had his license revoked by the athletic commission. That would have surely been a huge event and was most likely the plan for the UFC but even without Jones being available Lesnar's return is sure to be a huge draw and there are a few other options.
Source Jones called out Brock before failing test
Cain Velasquez is hoping to return after a long spell on the sidelines the pair have history after Cain defeated Lesnar for the Heavyweight championship back in 2010. Lesnar may like the opportunity to get some redemption while Cain could see it as a nice payday after such a long time off and a good fight for him to come back to before fighting a top ranked active challenger.
Source Velasquez punching Brock. Possible rematch?
What do you think about Lesnar returning to the UFC and who do you want to see him fight? Let me know in the comments, and please upvote and share.
