“The Beast Incarnate” will be facing a “Super Samoan” on July 9th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was made official today that Brock Lesnar gets Mark Hunt in his UFC 200 return to the octagon. The current WWE employee, and former UFC Heavyweight Champion, revealed his opponent to the world on this morning’s edition of SportsCenter.
No, this is not the marquee headline for an upcoming WWE Pay-Per-View. This will be one of the featured bouts, on an already stacked card, for the UFC’s super-show known as UFC 200. The return of Lesnar was announced during Saturday night’s UFC 199 event. Yet once the surprising news was made official, questions were abound over who would be the man standing across the cage from Lesnar.
The return of Lesnar was announced during Saturday night’s UFC 199 event.
There was much speculation on who would win this lottery ticket to face one of the biggest names in the history of the sport. Several fighters petitioned, publicly and privately, for this monumental moment in the spotlight. Some of them included Pride FC veteran, and current UFC heavyweight, Josh Barnett:
Josh Barnett is actively campaigning to get the Lesnar fight, I’m told. He wants it badly. He’s here at the Forum, too.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 5, 2016
And former Lesnar foe, Shane Carwin:
For everyone blowing up my phone, yes I would take this fight @UFC 200. I would love to knock Brock out. Any time, any place
— Shane Carwin (@ShaneCarwin) June 5, 2016
But in the end it will be Mark Hunt who gets the shot. The “Super Samoan” is on a two fight winning streak with first round finishes over Antonio Silva and Frank Mir. The bout looks to be a classic striker versus grappler match-up, and a fight that is sure to get much attention.
The announcement on Saturday shocked many, since there was an understanding that Lesnar was under contract to the WWE. But once word came out, the company released an official statement indicating they would allow one of their top draws to partake in an MMA fight one more time.
UFC 200 is sure to break PPV records for the company as it has a line-up that includes names like Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar, Miesha Tate, T.J. Dillashaw and Cain Velasquez. I for one can’t wait!
