Former UFC champion and current WWE personality Brock Lesnar is set for a return to the Octagon… well, sort of.
The current WWE Universal champion, has been in talks with the UFC for some time and was in attendance for the heavyweight championship main event of UFC 226 on Saturday night.
UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier shocked the world by knocking out heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in under five minutes to become just the second simultaneous two-division champion in UFC history.
Following the victory, Cormier asked the NCAA wrestling champion and former UFC titleholder to enter the Octagon.
Lesnar quickly grabbed the microphone and said, “Let me tell you something, I walked into this building and watched a heavyweight disaster from the beginning. [Francis] Ngannou is a piece of sh*t. Miocic is a piece of sh*t. DC, I’m coming for you motherf*cker.”
UFC President Dana White addressed Lesnar’s status at the post-fight press conference. While Lesnar still remains under contract with the WWE, White said promoter Vince McMahon is in the loop and things are moving forward although specific details for the bout have not been announced.
Lesnar initially won UFC heavyweight gold in 2008 against Randy Couture and remained with the company until December 2011. “The Beast” then made his return to sports entertainment in 2012 where he has remained minus his UFC 200 win over Mark Hunt. The victory became a no-contest after Lesnar tested positive for Clomiphene.
The Saskatchewan resident promptly announced his second retirement from MMA. He was also fined and given a one-year suspension by the UFC-partnered U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA.) The suspension was frozen thanks to his retirement, meaning that he still must serve the remaining six months.
Although Lesnar likely cannot face Cormier until January 2019 due to the suspension, he has re-entered the USADA testing pool according to a USADA spokesman. The fight will be one of the few remaining bouts in Cormier’s career as he intends to retire from competition in March when he turns 40.
“Yeah, you’re strong,” Cormier said to Lesnar during their scuffle. “But everybody’s strong. Push me now, you go to sleep later. Your day is in the past; 2010 is like the stone age. Hey Brock, get out of my Octagon. I got some pictures to take.”
This fight is not without its history.
“They’ve known each other a long time with the whole wrestling thing,” White said. “They talk a lot of sh*t to each other about wrestling and who would have won in wrestling and who would have done this or that. There is a thing with those two about who would win, and now they’re going to find out.“
Lesnar’s WWE deal is reportedly due to expire at the end of August and he’s got one more match on his contract according to pro wrestling insider and MMA journalist Dave Meltzer by way of Ringside News.
WWE’s next major event, SummerSlam, is scheduled for August 19 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.