Brock Lesnar is making a surprise return to UFC 200 on July 9th in Las Vegas, Nevada. He will be facing Mark Hunt popularly known as ‘Super Samoan’, after this fight he will go straight back to WWE for SummerSlam.
UFC 200 is special in the sense that it will be an Inaugural event at the T-Mobile Arena. Conor Mcgregor vs Nate Diaz Rematch was originally schedules for UFC 200 but due to the fact it had to postponed because of a dispute with the promotion, and will now feature on UFC 202, The UFC President Dana Whyte decided to bring in Brock Lesnar, who used to be UFC superstar and No.1 draw before he retired and joined WWE again.
Lesnar vs. Hunt will be the co-main event of Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight championship unification fight.
When Lesnar was asked how he feels about his return to UFC when Conor McGregor is the new king of PPV, Beast is least bothered about it.
Lesnar said: “I’ve got no qualms with anybody, if somebody wants to state they are the biggest pay-per-view draw in the world, I don’t care. I’ve never came out and said, ‘Hey, listen, I hold the most pay-per-view buys.’ All I know is what I got paid, and I’m happy to do so. I’m a prizefighter. I don’t hang my championships on the wall because they don’t pay the bills.”
“I don’t know him, but I know of Conor McGregor, this sport has evolved even from the first time that I entered into the octagon. I think people are finding out that you have to talk the talk, and more importantly you have to walk the walk. For guys that can talk and walk the walk, I think it’s great. It’s great for the company.” Lesnar added.
Lesnar believes he is still a prizefighter and making a boatload of money for this fight and that’s the only thing he cares about.
There have been some concerns raised from Hunt regarding the drug testing of Lesnar. In recent development USADA has waived drug testing requirement for Brock Lesnar under special circumstances.
“Given Lesnar last competed in UFC on December 30, 2011, long before the UFC Anti-Doping Policy went into effect, for purposes of the Anti-Doping Policy, he is being treated similarly to a new athlete coming into the organization,” the UFC’s statement to Yahoo! reads. “While conversations with the heavyweight have been ongoing for some time, Lesnar required permission from WWE to compete in UFC 200 and only agreed to terms and signed a bout agreement last Friday. He was therefore unable to officially start the Anti-Doping Policy process any earlier. UFC, however, did notify Lesnar in the early stages of discussions that if he were to sign with the UFC, he would be subject to all of the anti-doping rules. Lesnar and his management have now been formally educated by USADA on the policy, procedures and expectations.”
WWE released a statement regarding that this involvement of Brock Lesnar is a “one-off opportunity” only and he will return to the WWE after one fight. So this might be the one last time UFC fans will be able to watch the Beast fight in the Octagon.