For those fans left grasping for a sliver of hope to once again see former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar once again grace the Octagon, it’s Dana White to the rescue.
According to White, Lesnar regrets his MMA flameout and a potential return to the sport is a “definite possibility.”
“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.”
Rumor’s of a potential Lesnar comeback were revived earlier this month when Lance Pugmire of the LA Times claimed White was ‘talking’ to Lesnar, but would not release any further details until some sort of agreement was signed. The reports were largely discredited as being nothing more than an attempt by Lesnar to garner publicity for an upcoming appearance for a professional wrestling event.
A longtime sufferer of diverticulitis, Lesnar was plagued with health issues throughout his entire UFC career. According to White, Lesnar feels he was only competing nowhere near his true potential, hamstrung by his debilitating disease.
“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.
“He thinks a Brock Lesnar that was 100 percent could have done much better. I told him, ‘you’re out of your f***ing mind. You came in here with one fight and became the heavyweight champion.’ It was fun having Brock here.”
Lesnar officially hung it up in 2011 following back-to-back knockout losses to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 and Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. Prior to that he had managed to string together four consecutive wins over Shane Carwin, Frank Mir, Randy Couture and Heath Herring, in that order.
“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.”
When asked if he would ever be interested in sharing Lesnar with the WWE in some capacity, White’s remained coy as ever. “You never know.”
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Results: Get caught up on all the action from last night’s UFC Fight Night 35.
Dana responds to GSP. White hits ‘UFC 167 presser’ levels of aggravation giving his take on Georges St-Pierre’s PED comments. “If he wants to talk man to man, he can see us face to face. But everything that he said is ridiculous.”
‘Nobody wants to fight this guy.’ Dana White tries to clear up the confusion surrounding the ill-fated Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Nate Diaz fight.
Liver shot. Luke Rockhold walks away with KOTN honors after putting Costas Philippou away midway through round one.
Chat Wrap. Luke Thomas covers the controversy around Georges St-Pierre’s recent comments, Bellator’s situation with Patricio Freire and more in this week’s live chat.
MEDIA STEW
UFC Fight Night 35 post-fight press conference. Watch the full presser with Dana’s GSP comments here.
Dana talks Fight Night, GSP comments, Anderson Silva, Travis Browne, craziness on the TUF Brazil set and more.
Fight Night recap.
Full fight from TUF: Nations. Johnson vs. O’Reilly.
Orthodox Jewish Rabbi training MMA under Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.
Miss USA 2012, Whitney Miller, begins her Brazilian jiu jitsu journey.
27 dislikes? She just wants to paint.
Long watches.
TWEETS
As always, make sure to check out our excellent ‘Pro’s react’ piece for last night’s action.
Victory lap.
Thanks for all the support, that felt way too good 🙂
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) January 16, 2014
Thanks @da_MONSOON for an awesome fight!
— Brad Tavares (@BradTavares) January 16, 2014
Gracias a @Torque1net – this win is for God, my fans and you! #UFCFightNight #teamml pic.twitter.com/Mmh3hLRIm7
— Yoel Romero (@YoelRomeroMMA) January 16, 2014
http://t.co/tBglG4M74T 😃Thanks @danawhite @UFC http://t.co/GgMuap0n1C. @DUANEBANGCOM #CoachoftheYear
— TJ Dillashaw (@TJDillashaw) January 16, 2014
Another broke hand. On the left this time. At least I got sub of the night. Thanks for a great night @ufc! pic.twitter.com/m3BnsQ4Ji4
— Cole Miller (@colemillerATT) January 16, 2014
Thanks for the compliment @danawhite
— Cole Miller (@colemillerATT) January 16, 2014
“@JakeBMX24: I think @trevorsmithmma has been hit in the face too many times, watching the @ufc prelims pic.twitter.com/cP3MR5tAsB” LMAO!
— Trevor Smith (@trevorsmithmma) January 16, 2014
Depois da vitoria no @ufc eu mereço http://t.co/1vtDEcn9j4
— Elias Silvério (@eliasxuxumma) January 16, 2014
Tonight’s win meant so much. Such a ride and got to meet one of my childhood hero’s Shaq http://t.co/52XuTRHWRk
— Ramsey Nijem (@RamseyNijem) January 16, 2014
Still a frustrating win not happy with a split but when they wanna FIGHT, they know where I’m at, right in the middle of the cage!!!
— John Moraga (@chicanojohn) January 16, 2014
Thank you to everyone that donated their war cries during my fight! Your blood thirsty screams give me what I need to #UnleashHell #FromHell
— Vinc Pichel (@FromHellPichel) January 15, 2014
Better luck next time.
I’m upset but ill get over it. Thank you for supporting me it means a lot! It’s not over yet. I will be back..
— Costas Philippou (@Philippou185UFC) January 16, 2014
I hope you guys liked the fight pic.twitter.com/bDBbpA6wmu
— Mike Easton (@mikeeastonmma) January 16, 2014
Fought 1 of the best guys in the world.Silver medalist in Olympic wrestling who I took down 3 times Wasn’t my night I’ll be back.God bless
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunsonMMA) January 16, 2014
Also I’m not a fan of losing its not cool and I wont let it happen again
— isaac vallie-flagg (@IKEVF) January 16, 2014
My only goal is to maximize my own potential. I fell short tonight. But i’ll do what i do, regroup, assess and improve. @ufc
— Charlie Brenneman (@SpaniardMMA) January 16, 2014
Get well soon.
Just went to the hospital to see @DerekBrunsonMMA he has a fractured jaw. He is waiting to have surgery.
— Dana White (@danawhite) January 16, 2014
Popular Bisping.
@bisping I know you are scared to fight me. Leave @LukeRockhold out of this. You are fighting (and losing to) me.
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) January 16, 2014
Assumably in response to Cole Miller’s callout.
Getting after it! @PHWBoss2 #phw #beastmode pic.twitter.com/deLbdPntYA
— Cowboy Cerrone (@Cowboycerrone) January 16, 2014
TUF bound, probably.
@arielhelwani im not sure…I’m going up 115 to tryout for tuf
— Jessica Penne (@JessicaPenne) January 15, 2014
It’s bad when Conte gets in on it.
@danawhite @lorenzofertitta IMO. UFC should look out more for the health & safety of their fighters. MMA needs more stringent RANDOM testing
— Victor Conte (@VictorConte) January 16, 2014
Call someone out, get invited to Russia.
@TeamKhabib haha awesome it would be an honor. Maybe after my fight in London I can stop by
— Ian McCall (@Unclecreepymma) January 15, 2014
Outstanding.
Holy Crap! Is that Fire Ball from the 80s movie Running Man reffing this fight!? pic.twitter.com/PLTRzB4gOd
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) January 15, 2014
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Jan. 15 2014)
Alexander Shlemenko vs. Brennan Ward at Bellator 114
Jussier Formiga vs. Scott Jorgensen UFC Fight Night Natal
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via Da Headbanger.
What We NOW Know About UFC Fight Night 35… And What Should NOW Be Done
Was this a great card? No, but it was a very good card. There were a some submissions, a couple of TKO’s, a controversial decision, a few impressive debuts, and of course, violence. Always boils down to violence. Hell yeah!
The main event established that Luke Rockhold isn’t a pretender (but Costas Philippou is) and it isn’t crazy to mention him in the same breath as Michael Bisping or Lyoto Machida. I think a lot of people forgot that he beat Jacare to obtain the Strikeforce belt in the first place. He is for real people! He should get another shot at a Top 5 fighter next to help clear up the muddled middleweight picture. I’m sure some people are going to bitch that his victory over Philippou means nothing as most feel Philippou was exposed previously by Francis Carmont, but no one had been able to put away Philippou in his career yet and Rockhold did so with relative ease. As for Philippou… poor guy. He isn’t going to get cut by any means, but no one will mistake him for a Top 10 fighter again now that he has officially been exposed… similar to what he did to Tim Boetsch.
Other quick notes: Brad Tavares graduated from prospect to fringe contender. TJ Dillashaw stamped his legitimacy. Yoel Romero won by TKO (can he win any other way?). And judging is going to once again be ridiculed after the John Moraga-Dustin Ortiz verdict.
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Check out the rest of the post here.
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