Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar, was expected to bring his pay-per-view (PPV) shit show back to the world’s preeminent mixed martial arts (MMA) organization this summer in a super-sized showdown opposite reigning 265-pound kingpin, Daniel Cormier.
This wasn’t just marketing chatter, either, as Lesnar crashed the UFC 226 main event and two-handed “DC” across the cage, then enrolled in United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to prove he’s competing without the benefit of creamy feet.
Then … nothing.
So what the heck happened? Depends on who you ask. Insiders point to the promotion’s new ESPN+ deal, which puts a cap on fighter PPV points and could limit the return a star like Lesnar would generate. Promotion president Dana White, however, claims Lesnar got a better deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Either way, there’s no hard feelings.
“I wasn’t pissed at all,” White said during his Instagram live chat (via MMA Fighting). “Brock had a good run here. It’s been fun. Listen to fight in this business you have to be 100 percent invested. You’ve got to be in. It’s not where his head was. He made the right decision.”
With Lesnar out of the picture, former heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic, will return to the Octagon to rematch Cormier in the upcoming UFC 241 main event this August in Anaheim, in what could be the final fight of “DC’s” career.
For more on that upcoming showdown click here.