When it comes to UFC pay-per-view success, few names can rival Conor McGregor. The Irish superstar remains the promotion’s biggest draw, accounting for eight of the ten highest-selling PPV events in UFC history. However, before McGregor reached those heights, another crossover attraction had proven his ability to move massive numbers: Brock Lesnar.
The former UFC heavyweight champion was one of the sport’s earliest mainstream superstars, headlining blockbuster events and helping UFC 100 surpass 1 million pay-per-view buys in his heavyweight title rematch against Frank Mir. That star power is precisely why the UFC explored a potential superfight between Lesnar and Daniel Cormier following UFC 226 in 2018.
After knocking out Stipe Miocic to become a two-division champion, Cormier was confronted inside the Octagon by Lesnar in one of the most memorable post-fight moments in UFC history. Lesnar shoved the newly crowned champion and called out the heavyweight division, while Cormier fired back by promising to put the former WWE star to sleep. The matchup appeared destined to happen and had all the ingredients of a major pay-per-view attraction.
Instead, the fight never materialized. Cormier went on to defend his heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 before completing a trilogy with Miocic at UFC 241 and UFC 252. Shortly afterward, he retired from the sport without ever sharing the Octagon with Lesnar. Now, Cormier has shed more light on why the highly anticipated showdown fell apart.
Speaking during a recent Q&A session on his YouTube channel, the former two-division champion admitted that he desperately wanted the fight and recalled his long-standing connection with Lesnar through wrestling. He said, “Man, I wanted that so bad. You know Brock Lesnar, I know him because we both wrestled in junior college in the same year, and he wrestled at Minnesota the same year I was at Oklahoma State.”
Cormier then recounted a memorable phone call he received from Lesnar while attending one of his daughter’s gymnastics events. According to Cormier, the former UFC heavyweight champion was already thinking ahead to a potential title fight. He said, “I was at my daughter’s gymnastics [event], and I get a random number on my phone. And I go, ‘Hello, who is this?”
He added, “It’s Brock. I say, ‘What’s up, Brock? What the fuck are you calling me for? I hear you’re fighting that big white boy.’ I said, ‘Stipe?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘You knock him out, it’s going to be Christmas early for your family because we’re going to fight.’ I was like, ‘Shit, Ok, Brock.”
Daniel Cormier recalls the time Brock Lesnar randomly called him to say he was at UFC 200. 😅
“Everytime Brock fought, it was over a million PPV”
via: @dc_mma pic.twitter.com/RWqG34cc39
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) June 30, 2026
Cormier also revealed that Lesnar had previously reached out before UFC 200, where the former heavyweight champion returned to face Mark Hunt in what ultimately became his final UFC appearance. Although Lesnar won the bout by unanimous decision, the result was later overturned to a no contest following a failed drug test.
Reflecting on that period, Cormier explained how excited he was whenever Lesnar was attached to a UFC card because of the enormous financial upside. He said, “Then, even at UFC 200, he called me and goes, he literally sent me a message and said, ‘Merry Christmas, DC. I’m on UFC 200.’ I was like, yes, [because] every time Brock fought, it was over a million pay-per-views.”
Ultimately, however, business realities prevented the fight from ever becoming official. According to Cormier, WWE presented Lesnar with such a lucrative contract that returning to the UFC no longer made financial sense. Reports at the time suggested Lesnar was earning roughly $12 million annually while working a limited schedule for the professional wrestling giant.
Cormier acknowledged that Lesnar made the right decision and praised the former champion for maximizing his earning potential. He said, “It didn’t happen because the WWE gave him too much money, and he made the right choice. You talk about a man that money follows, it’s Brock Lesnar. He’s done really well for himself. I’m proud of him.”
From a competitive standpoint, a fight between Lesnar and Cormier would likely have favored Cormier. By the time the matchup was being discussed, Cormier was one of the most active and accomplished fighters in the sport, competing regularly against elite opposition. Lesnar, meanwhile, had largely stepped away from MMA after health issues related to diverticulitis derailed his heavyweight title reign.
Following losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem, the former champion shifted his focus back to professional wrestling and made only a single return to the Octagon years later in 2016. Even so, Cormier’s comments about Lesnar’s immense drawing power were far from exaggerated. Reportedly, five of his UFC appearances surpassed the one-million pay-per-view mark, firmly establishing him as one of the biggest attractions the sport has ever seen.
His heavyweight title rematch against Frank Mir at UFC 100 remains one of the most successful events in UFC history, generating an estimated 1.6 million pay-per-view buys. That benchmark stood as the company record for seven years before being eclipsed by UFC 202, headlined by Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz.
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Perhaps more importantly, Lesnar introduced an entirely new audience to mixed martial arts. As one of WWE’s biggest stars, he carried a massive fanbase into the UFC, bringing millions of professional wrestling viewers with him. Many of those fans had little to no prior interest in MMA but tuned in simply to see whether ‘The Next Big Thing’ could succeed in legitimate combat sports.
Lesnar answered those questions emphatically when he captured the heavyweight championship in just his fourth professional fight, defeating Randy Couture at UFC 91. The victory remains one of the most remarkable achievements in MMA history and helped transform Lesnar into a crossover phenomenon. That unprecedented star power was a major reason Cormier was so eager to make the fight happen.
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