Taking a year off from any sport can impact any professional athlete. For Brock Lesnar, the biggest concern regarding the rest of his mixed martial arts career is his ability to remain healthy.
The former UFC heavyweight champion has already undergone two surgeries to repair his recurring battle with diverticulitis, along with pursuing a fighting career relatively late into his 30s, which puts a question mark on his longevity in the sport.
His next bout will see him face another top competitor in Alistair Overeem, a powerful muay-thai striker who carries a muscular frame and underrated submission skills. Although he is only seven fights into his brief career, Lesnar has consistently fought some of the best fighters in the world and he has come up victorious against most of the competition.
Should he pick up a victory, he will have earned himself another title shot against either Cain Velasquez or Junior dos Santos.
And when he returns later this year, his health, will once again be brought up for debate.
After he was cleared of his first diagnosis, Lesnar returned to successfully defend his title against Shane Carwin. For the first time, fans saw a glimpse of vulnerability in the champion that almost cost him the bout, but the fact that he overcame adversity to retain his title, generated more appeal.
Now, after undergoing a second surgery, Lesnar looks poised for a return to the Octagon and will be matched up with another devastating striker in a bout with title implications, but this time around there won’t be as much pressure.
Certainly, Lesnar’s health will be a trending topic prior to his bout, but it isn’t likely going to impact him as much as before.
He is one of the most physically gifted athletes to grace the UFC and considering the drastic effects he had to endure with his recovery, there isn’t much more harm he can do to himself that would prevent him from competing any longer. And at an age where most professional athletes are at the peak of their physical abilities, for Lesnar’s sake, this bout might show a strong indication of how much he is capable of withstanding through the duration of a five round matchup.
At 34-years-old, the ability to push ones-self beyond their physical limit might be a difficult task for Lesnar, and while it is unlikely he stays in the sport much longer, his presence as a dominant figure and a competitive fighter remains inevitable.
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