Booker T On Brock Lesnar's MMA Suspension And Fine, Comparison To Wrestlers Being Upset With Rock
Recently on Heated Conversations: Hosted By Booker T, the WWE Hall Of Famer shared his thoughts on Brock Lesnar's punishment from the Nevada Athletic Commission in relation to Lesnar's failed drug tests earlier this year.
On the subject of Lesnar's MMA suspension and $250,000 fine, Booker T said that Lesnar did something wrong and needed to be punished for it. The five-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion insinuated that the penalties incurred by 'The Beast Incarnate' were not very steep, as the fine amounts to 10% of Lesnar's UFC 200 purse for defeating Mark Hunt and the suspension is moot since Lesnar probably was not going to step foot in The Octagon for a year anyway.
"Well, I'll tell you, me personally, being an athlete, I'm always going to go out and represent. I'm going to go out there and fight fair and square. Now, Brock went out [and] he did something wrong, right? In the fight game, if you do something wrong, you should get punished for it. Am I right or wrong? $250,000, a year suspension, and what else? And they took the win away from [the] Mark Hunt [fight]. Okay. This is the way I look at it, right here. Brock Lesnar made $2.5 million minus $250,000, that's $2.25 [million], and a vacation for a year. He probably wasn't coming back [to UFC] for a year anyway. Do you know what I mean? And to take away my win from Mark Hunt, I'd take that. Do you know what I'm saying? Do you know what I mean? If I did something wrong, yeah, alright, I'll take that. 'Do you know what? Hold the check and just take out what you guys [want] and just give me the rest of it. Do you know what I mean? That's cool.'"
Booker T went on to say that a lot of fighters will be upset by Lesnar's punishment and compares it to The Rock coming back for WrestleMania.
"Well, I think if anything a portion [of Lesnar's purse] should have [gone to Hunt]. A portion of it should have gone to Mark Hunt, perhaps $500,000 just to square everything up, just make everybody happy, but for Brock to still walk away with $2.25 [million] after something like that, some of the guys in that locker room that [have] been fighting for many, many years, they've got to be pretty upset by it. But the one thing I've always said is they can be upset all they want. Brock Lesnar's a draw. People talk about when The Rock comes back for WrestleMania, all the young guys in the locker room are going to be upset. And I always say, 'when you guys in the locker room can start selling out WrestleMania, then you can start talking. Until then, keep your mouth shut! You're going to get a check at the end of the day!'"
Check out the podcast here. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit Heated Conversations: Hosted By Booker T with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.