Most MMA fans were under the impression that a UFC fight was in the plans for Brock Lesnar, and were disappointed to say the least when Dana White announced that the fighter had made the decision to retire instead. Freetips.com looks at the story and the controversy surrounding this man-mountain.
To be fair, Brock is now 41, and therefore retirement could have been expected soon, but it seems that even White was not expecting that decision yet. The fighter who has starred in MMA, UFC and WWE was expected to return to the ring – so what has changed? It was originally thought that there would be a meeting between Lesnar and Daniel Cormier this summer, which would have been the for UFC heavyweight title, but following the announcement that Lesnar is retiring, White has now suggested it will be Stipe Miocic who will instead face Cormier in a rematch.
Brock was suspended following his fight against Mark Hunt at UFC 200 by the United States Anti-Doping Association (USADA) for allegations of doping. Lesnar’s ban was up in January, but obviously he would be under the microscope and subject to rigorous testing, so some have speculated that he was not prepared to fight without the use of some performance-enhancing substances. To be clear, the USADA has an extensive list – and these are not all illegal substances, so it is a list that not everyone agrees with. Lesnar has also failed two drug tests when he was wrestling for WWE in 2016, but was nonetheless allowed to perform at the WWE Summer Slam.
Lesnar re-entered the USADA testing pool in July 2018. Neither the fighter, his management or the USADA have given any indication of the results of this round of testing. It could be that is was another bad result or of course he may just have decided his time is up. It is unlikely that UFC is going to be happy with the decision as there is no doubt at all that a Cormier vs Lesnar bout would have been a huge money maker for them.
Initially, it looked as though Lesnar will continue his WWE career but the latest rumor has it that he will also be done with them in 2020. In the meantime he will be featured in the WWE Saudi Arabia return on June 7th, but according to sources for the ‘Oh, You Didn’t Know’ podcast featuring Brad Shepherd, the rumor has it that Lesnar has told Vince McMahon that he will also be hanging up his WWE belts and his final outing with them will be on April 5, 2020, at WrestleMania. Leaving the sport will be met with mixed reactions. Lesnar is a controversial character and no doubt some people will be pleased to see him go, whereas others are sure to miss him. We wait to see if this is a genuine retirement, or whether Brock will join the list of fighters courting the media with false retirement announcements and subsequent comeback fights.