Brock Lesnar UFC Return A Strong Possibility: Meet His First Opponent

Brock Lesnar has had quite a run in the WWE since his return. He’s the one in 21-1, ending The Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania 30. From there, he went on to decimate John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam.

He appears invincible, but he’s also been plagued by grumblings of his status as a “part-timer,” and fans do seem annoyed that they apparently won’t be seeing him again until December, in spite of the fact that he’s the top guy in the company.

With his contract expiring shortly after WrestleMania 31, the Beast Incarnate has a decision to make soon; will he stay in WWE, where the fights are staged, or will he try to venture back into the world of MMA?

If he chooses the former, then we wouldn’t be sure that he drops the title at WM31. If he goes with the latter, then he already has an opponent with an intriguing storyline ready and willing to meet him.

Shane Carwin was the last guy that Brock Lesnar beat inside the Octagon. He did it with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their championship bout, but it wasn’t before Carwin showed some serious vulnerabilities in Lesnar’s game, catching him with hard shots that nearly ended it in round one.

Those vulnerabilities were later exploited by Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem en route to early victories in Lesnar’s two matches that followed, consequently sending him out of the sport and back into professional wrestling.

Fox Sports recently caught up to the retired Shane Carwin, who confirmed he would make a return in order to face Lesnar.

“I’m all in,” he said. “All the pain would be worth that.”

Of the loss, Carwin said he “basically almost died in that fight” from punching himself out in the first round.

“In the second round, anybody could have tripped me and landed on me.”

Clearly, Carwin felt he could have won the first fight but simply got careless, and most of the experts agree. Nevertheless, Brock Lesnar retains bragging rights.

If he were to make a UFC return after WrestleMania, he would want it to be against a “safe opponent,” and frankly, there aren’t a lot of those for Brock on the current roster.

While a top-of-his-game Shane Carwin wouldn’t be a pushover, Lesnar, at least, knows he can beat him, so coming back to MMA against a willing Carwin would make a lot of sense from both competition and storyline perspectives.

And yes, even though it’s UFC, storylines sell fights. How else do you explain Miesha Tate getting not one, but two shots at Ronda Rousey, even though she lost the first fight badly and was knocked out in a number one contender’s match by Cat Zingano?

It’s clear that a Brock Lesnar UFC return wouldn’t last long, but his comeback fight could be big money and set up a second fight with even bigger money should he win the first.

Do you think Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar should go head-to-head one more time? And will Brock Lesnar stay in WWE or opt for another UFC run? Share your thoughts in our comments section.