Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar again captured the WWE heavyweight title at SummerSlam Saturday night, and one of the first men to congratulate him was none other than Jon Jones
“Bones,” the UFC light heavyweight champion, posted a video on Instagram of his encounter with Lesnar just moments after he decimated John Cena to again wear WWE gold.
“Hey, I’m here with big Brock Lesnar right after the smack down. How you feelin’?” Jones asked.
“Good, man, good,” Lesnar responded.
“That was a lot of fun. This was my first time getting to watch him do his thing and he was a beast out there, the people loved him,” Jones gushed.
“Thank you, thank you,” Lesnar said, before Jones concluded by saying “good times.”
Lesnar holds the distinction of being the youngest WWE heavyweight titleholder of all time, as he was just 25 years old when he wrestled the belt away from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at SummerSlam in 2002.
The hulking Minnesota native also wore WWE championship gold when he defeated Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XIX back in 2003.
A two-time All-American collegiate wrestler, Lesnar retired from mixed martial arts after suffering back-to-back TKO losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem.
Months later, Lesnar decided to return to the WWE on a part-time basis.
When Lesnar won the UFC heavyweight title from Randy Couture at UFC 91 in November 2008, Jones was just 7-0 as a professional mixed martial artist and had fought his first UFC bout just four months prior.
Jones easily won a decision against Andre Gusmao at UFC 87, showing flashes of the superstar fight fans know today: utilizing explosive takedowns and spinning back elbows during their 15-minute affair.
The fighters traveled two markedly different paths from there: Two bouts with the stomach disease diverticulitis took a serious toll on Lesnar’s fight career, while Jones has compiled a 13-1 record since that point and is generally regarded as the best fighter on the UFC roster.
According to Paul Heyman, Lesnar’s manager, his top client would’ve been unstoppable inside the cage if he had never gotten ill, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports.
Many years down the line when Jones hangs up the gloves for good, would pro wrestling be a natural transition for him?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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