UFC President Dana White is finally admitting that he’s had recent conversations with former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
As a matter of fact, White indicated that a Lesnar return is a “definite possibility” at the UFC Fight Night 35 post-fight press conference, per MMA Fighting.
Me and Brock talk. I said recently Brock feels like … he said he has some regrets with MMA because he wasn’t healthy. He was going through those stomach problems the whole time he was here. So he has regrets … It’s interesting. He became champion with diverticulitis. What would he have done without it? From the first day he fought in the UFC until his last fight he was suffering from it. He never felt right. He just didn’t know why and then it really hit him. He feels like he was fighting here at 40 percent … So he has some regrets. Would he like to fight again? I’m sure he would. We’ll see how this whole thing plays out. It’s definitely a possibility.
White even said he wasn’t opposed to sharing Lesnar’s services with the WWE, “you never know,” he said when a reporter posed the question.
Earlier this month, the LA Times’ Lance Pugmire broke the news that White and Lesnar were “talking” about a new deal.
The 36-year-old Lesnar defeated UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture at UFC 91 in November 2008 for the heavyweight strap in just his fourth professional mixed martial arts fight.
After a bout with the stomach disease diverticulitis, the former two-time Division I All-American wrestler came back and defended the belt against interim champ Shane Carwin at UFC 116 in July 2010.
Once billed as “The Next Big Thing” inside the ring, Lesnar lost the belt to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121 in October 2010.
The hulking heavyweight, who cut weight to make the 265-pound weight limit, attempted to come back 14 months later after a second bout with diverticulitis against Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 in December 2011.
Lesnar lost the bout via first round TKO and vowed never to fight in the Octagon ever again, taking his talent back to the WWE on a part-time basis.
Is a Lesnar comeback truly on the horizon or will all this talk turn out to be much ado about nothing?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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