Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar is returning to the UFC with one person in mind, and that person is, well, Brock Lesnar.
Lesnar’s UFC return was announced during the UFC 199 pay-per-view, and his opponent, which is going to be Mark Hunt, was announced by Lesnar himself just a few days later.
Last week, Brock Lesnar sat down with his good friend Paul Heyman, and he opened up about why he’s returning to the world of mixed-martial-arts. Part 2 of that interview popped up on Tuesday, and Lesnar made it clear that he has nothing to prove to anyone. He said he’s not returning to the UFC for the fans, because his return is all about one person, and that person is him.
BROCK LESNAR #EXCLUSIVE #BreakingNews @UFC #UFC200 #LesnarVsHunt @WWE @MakerStudios @AryDalton_ #L4L @BrockLesnar https://t.co/Gza3YFaQn8
— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) June 14, 2016
“I’m not doing this for the fans. If there are fans that are excited that I’m getting back into the Octagon, great! But I’m not doing it for them. I’m doing this for me, and if, by chance, two-million people wanna tune in for me to enjoy myself on July 9, so be it. That’s great, that’s really good, and I appreciate that. But I’m not gonna change, this is all about me, I’m sorry. And why should it be about anyone else? This is about me and what I wanna do.”
Lesnar hasn’t said if his fight at UFC 200 is a one-off. Some believe that, if he wins, he’ll continue to fight. Some have even suggested that he may get a shot at he UFC Heavyweight Championship if he defeats Mark Hunt at UFC 200.
Mark Hunt is a dangerous opponent for Lesnar. In the past, we’ve seen Lesnar look extremely vulnerable against skilled and powerful strikers like Shane Carwin and Alistair Overeem, and if you’re a hardcore MMA fan, then you know that Hunt is one of, if not the most powerful striker in the UFC. So, if Lesnar gets knocked out in the first round, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
The UFC Heavyweight Championship may not be what Lesnar goes after if he wins on July 9. Instead, he may go after mixed-martial-arts legend Fedor Emelianenko, who admitted on Monday that he’s closer than ever to signing with the UFC.
Back in 2012, the UFC was extremely close to making Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor Emelianenko, and the fight would’ve taken place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. But Fedor’s father passed away before they could make the bout official, and because of that, “The Last Emperor” lost all interest in fighting. But he’s back now, and if he ends up defeating Fabio Maldonado on June 17, he’ll be on a five-fight winning streak, and he’ll undoubtedly be the hottest free agent in the world of mixed-martial-arts.
When Lesnar returned to WWE in the spring of 2012, there was a clause in his contract that would allow him to fight Fedor under the UFC’s banner, should Fedor ever accept the fight. It’s unclear if he had that same clause put in his contract when he re-signed with WWE in 2015, but if he wins at UFC 200, WWE may allow him to go back and fight one more time.
Even thought it’s a non-title fight, Lesnar’s bout with Mark Hunt will be UFC 200’s co-main-event, ahead of the interim Featherweight Title fight between Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo, and ahead of the Women’s Bantamweight Title fight between Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes. The main-event of the show will be the Light Heavyweight Title fight between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones.
Now that Lesnar is on the show, the UFC is expecting to break their all-time pay-per-view record, which was set by Lesnar at UFC 100, where he successfully defended the Heavyweight Title against Frank Mir.
[Image via Eric Jamison / AP Images ]