Brock Lesnar Re-Signs With WWE, Effectively Ending MMA Career

Photo © Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images.

Brock Lesnar, WWE wrestler and former UFC heavyweight champion, has effectively closed the door on a MMA return. The 37-year-old has resigned with WWE after speculation that he might return to the octagon.

The rumors grew rampant after Lesnar was seen ringside during the Ronda Rousey and Cat Zingano fight: though he was there just to watch the championship bout, it was in the midst of a contract dispute with the WWE.

Lesnar made a name for himself in 2007, when he began his UFC career fighting Frank Mir, which he lost via submission. But he built upon that loss by defeating Heath Herring. This resulted in a fight for the heavyweight belt with Randy Couture, which he won by knockout.

He went on to defend the belt against Mir at UFC 100, but his career hit a major roadblock when he was diagnosed with diverticulitis: a digestive disease that hospitalized him, causing Lesnar to miss a year.

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On his return, he defended his title against Shane Carwin, but then lost it to Cain Velasquez. He went on to fight one more match in the UFC before calling it quits, losing to Alistair Overeem.

Yesterday, he went on ESPN to talk about his decision to turn down MMA for WWE. “It was a very hard decision for me,” Lesnar told Michelle Beadle on ESPN. “The fighter in me wants to compete. The father, the husband, you know I’m an older caveman now, so I make wiser decisions. So I’m here to say that my legacy in the Octagon is over.”

“That’s why I wanted to come here. I wanted it to be out of my mouth,” Lesnar continued. “I wanted people to hear from me. It was a hard decision to make. It took me a year. I thought about this decision for a year. At the end of the day, it’s all about me wanting to have fun… For me to get back in the Octagon, and for the last two and a half months I’ve been training, I’ve been training to get back in the Octagon. I felt physically great, but something lacked mentally and that’s not good.”

Lesnar then effectively closed the door on ever returning to MMA. “I could go back to the Octagon and what am I going to gain,” Brock pondered. “I was the UFC Heavyweight Champion of the world. Due to my illness, my career got cut short. And that’s God telling me, hey, it’s time to move on.”