Since overcoming diverticulitis, Brock Lesnar is healthy for the first time in a long time. In fact, he is so healthy that he feels he could return to fighting in the UFC.
But would he?
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, per Lance Pugmire, the former UFC heavyweight champ talked about his health and whether or not he would ever consider putting on a pair of four ounce gloves again.
“Now I feel great; there’s days I think I can get back into the octagon and be the same human being I was before. But I’m on another chapter.”
Before he was diagnosed with an intestinal disorder, it appeared Lesnar had finally found his niche in the UFC. He served as the face of the promotion, and for a while, many believed he was the best heavyweight in the world.
Looking back, it’s truly astonishing to be reminded of the kind of impact Lesnar had on the heavyweight division.
The argument that size doesn’t matter seemed dubious in regard to Lesnar, who changed opinions on what a prototypical heavyweight was supposed to look like. Fighters like Frank Mir went on intense bulking regimens in hopes of leveling the playing field and one day competing with Lesnar’s gargantuan size.
Unfortunately, life in the UFC was short-lived for Lesnar. In October 2009, he was diagnosed with diverticulitis and forced to undergo serious intestinal surgery.
Lesnar would eventually bounce back after a nine-month layoff, but he was never the same fighter after the surgery. Part of the reason could be chalked up to facing tougher opposition. Lesnar was defeated by current heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez and former Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem in his final UFC bouts.
Another part has to be credited to the unrelenting illness that somehow crept its way back into Lesnar’s career again and again. Lesnar told the LA Times that “bad timing” was always his primary issue:
You’ve always got that part in your mind. I do miss it, but I’ve got to keep myself in check. What I went through the last few years was quite traumatic, not being able to fight like I wanted. I got back on the horse way too soon. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. That chapter in my life has come to closure, and I’m comfortable with it…
Life for me has always been about timing, and it was bad timing for that disease to hit me. I’ve never really sat and pondered about what I could’ve done differently or how things could’ve been, but I wasn’t the same guy.
Lesnar may have moved on, but as a fan, it’s hard not to ponder what could have been. What if he never got sick? What if he got into MMA sooner?
“Coulda, shoulda, woulda” sounds about right when describing Lesnar’s MMA career.
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