In an announcement that will surely cause buzz in the world of both professional fighting and professional wresting, the UFC made a huge deal to bring back a former Heavyweight Champion.
Shortly before the UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping 2 pay-per-view event was to start, Ariel Helwani reported that the UFC were in serious talks for Brock Lesnar to return to MMA at UFC 200. Many expected the UFC to make an announcement about the deal at the UFC 199 event, but President of UFC Dana White denied the rumors in an interview during the show, saying it was a website error because the 38-year-old Lesnar was previously in UFC 100.
BREAKING: Brock Lesnar to return to MMA at UFC 200
https://youtu.be/ffKKmTgsfV8
Shortly after the interview, a vignette aired for the big UFC 200 event and it showed Lesnar’s name with an opponent TBD. Helwani added to his earlier report that Lesnar’s opponent should be announced in the next few days.
Lesnar has a 5-3 record in MMA, with his last fight coming in 2011, which was a loss to Allistair Overeem. Since then, Lesnar returned to World Wrestling Entertainment, where he has been working for the last four years. As of this writing, Lesnar is still under contract to WWE and all signs indicate that barring a serious injury, he would be competing in their major Summerslam event to be held at the Barclay’s Center on August 21, 2016.
UFC 200 takes place next month on Saturday July 9, 2016 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Nevada.
However, this would not be the only big announcement made at the UFC 199 event, as the rematch between Connor McGregor and Nate Diaz was announced for UFC 202 as well.
Update: WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has issued a statement indicating that they are allowing Lesnar to compete in UFC 200 in a one-off MMA match and that he is indeed, still under contract. They also indicate that he will participate at SummerSlam in August.
Rumors indicate that Lesnar will face Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight title at SummerSlam.
