I’ve got bad news for those of you that don’t ever want to see Brock Lesnar in a UFC ring again. His loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 on Friday night was not the last time that you’ll see him on an MMA card.
Yes, I know what he said. But how many times do we hear fighters say that they’re retired? We can count one by one, but I’ll save some time and say this: Lesnar is not the first. So, if you do believe that Lesnar is done, let me ask you this:
What’s he going to do?
A natural thought is that Lesnar might return to WWE. George Prax was one of a few people to suggest that on Twitter.
But that’s not a real option here, not on a full-time level, anyway. Jim Ross believes that if he returns, it won’t be now and will be a temporary thing.
Lesnar already tried the WWE game. He had a hard time adjusting to the constant grind of being on the road. His last WWE appearance was nearly eight years ago at WrestleMania XX. If his body couldn’t handle the road eight years ago, it’s not going to be able to now.
That’s not me talking; that’s father time. It catches everyone at some point.
In UFC, the grind of being on the road is nowhere near as great. Yes, the physical end of it is obviously huge, but you get to train and live at home. In the WWE, you’re spending upwards of 300 days out of the year on the road. That difference is too immense to ignore.
There’s one other problem that’s too immense to ignore for UFC. According to Mark Wayne of Fightline, Lesnar is still under contract with UFC. Retirement doesn’t mean that his contract is voided.
That’s not a small concern. UFC would have to be willing to let go of Lesnar, who’s a big draw. On top of that, they would have some concern about him going to a rival. The chances of that happening are slim.
It won’t happen here.
Generally speaking, when a fighter “retires,” it means that he doesn’t really know what to do next. When said fighter retires moments after an embarrassing defeat, it means that he’s frustrated that he lost.
None of this means that Lesnar will be any good in UFC, or MMA in general. Sure, he’s got a good offensive attack, but still can’t take a punch. That’s not a small problem.
But we haven’t seen the last of Lesnar in MMA. At some point, he’ll realize that there’s nothing else for him to do. He’ll remember why he left WWE and realize that his entire life has been focused on fighting.
Whether you like it or not, Lesnar will have more fights. Don’t expect them to be low-profile fights either.
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