Brock Lesnar Comments On Rumored UFC Return Opponent
As Raj noted earlier, Dave Meltzer noted on The LAW that there is definitely something to the rumors of current WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar possibly returning to UFC later this year to fight. Meltzer noted that UFC officials are looking at the December pay-per-view for Lesnar's return, which would be several months before his WWE contract expires after WrestleMania 34 in April 2018. Meltzer noted that UFC is having a bad year and is looking for Lesnar and Ronda Rousey to return, plus another fight from Conor McGregor this year. Meltzer said on The LAW, "They've got a budget and this year has been terrible. They want some drawing power for the end of the year."
Meltzer noted that he's been told UFC wants Lesnar to go up against Jon Jones but that would depend on what happens this coming weekend at UFC 214. Jones is scheduled to face Lesnar friend Daniel Cormier for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title. Meltzer speculated on UFC grooming Jones to be a big superstar and the feeling is that there could be a major coronation if the 30 year old beats Lesnar.
Jones did a Facebook Live Q&A on Tuesday and was asked about possibly moving up to heavyweight to fight Lesnar. He said:
"I would love to fight Brock Lesnar. He's a massive dude. I mean, it would be a massive draw. Really big for the sport. It'd be a great challenge. That's a big ol' boy. I doubt Brock Lesnar would take that fight, though. I definitely wouldn't try to wrestle with him the whole time. I would ? you know what, I wouldn't tell you what I would do."
The Associated Press contacted Lesnar later in the day for a response to Jones' comments and The Beast had the following to say:
"Would I fight Jon Jones? Anytime, anywhere. Right now he should be worried about D.C. on Saturday night."
Media outlets are reporting that a Jones vs. Lesnar superfight, which would bring a big payday for both fighters, couldn't happen until after April 2018 due to Lesnar's contract status with WWE but Meltzer speculated that Vince McMahon will allow Lesnar to fight again as they made the deal for him to fight at UFC 200 and both sides came out alright, for the most part at least. Due to the UFC 200 failures, WWE was forced to admit that they do not test Lesnar under the Wellness Policy because he is a part-time Superstar. WWE does hold the exclusive rights to Lesnar's services while he is under contract.
There have been conflicting reports on if Lesnar has been re-added to the USADA testing pool but he must be in the pool in the next few weeks if they want him to be eligible for a December fight because he has 5 more months of his suspension related to the UFC 200 drug test failures, which was frozen when he announced his retirement from fighting last year.