UFC top-middleweight fighter Mark Muñoz held a press conference yesterday late afternoon at the Gold’s Gym branch in Quezon City, Philippines. Bleacher Report MMA, represented by yours truly—had the following exchanges with “The …
UFC top-middleweight fighter Mark Muñoz held a press conference yesterday late afternoon at the Gold’s Gym branch in Quezon City, Philippines. Bleacher Report MMA, represented by yours truly—had the following exchanges with “The Filipino Wrecking Machine”: KS: You’ve beaten Chael Sonnen in collegiate wrestling years ago. Now, when it comes to MMA fighting—how do you […]
The lines between MMA and WWE are often blurred; sometimes a little too much for MMA fans’ liking. It’s inevitable that when you combine a bunch of egos under the same roof, some good storylines are bound to happen. These storylines can som…
The lines between MMA and WWE are often blurred; sometimes a little too much for MMA fans’ liking. It’s inevitable that when you combine a bunch of egos under the same roof, some good storylines are bound to happen. These storylines can sometimes seem larger than life and even more important than the fight itself. […]
We haven’t seen or heard much from Brock Lesnar since his first round UFC 141 TKO loss to Alistair Overeem and subsequent retirement from MMA. Most of us assumed he was likely off on another possibly illegal hunting trip, or perhaps was spending day and night just getting on top of that smoking hot wife of his. In either case, the former UFC Heavyweight Champ recently popped up in Minneapolis to present Minnesota Gopher freshman wrestler Logan Storley with the 2011 Junior Hodge Trophy. Storley, who recently helped the Gophers clinch half of the Big Ten Dual Meet conference championship (along with Penn State), attended the same high school as Lesnar, who, as we all know, was a NCAA Division I Champion himself. After compiling an incredible 262-3 record, Storley was voted the nation’s best prep high school wrestler by the Amateur Athletic Union and WIN Magazine. Now start training those hands, son.
Join us after the jump for a plethora of videos from around the MMA blogosphere, including a nasty Thai Boxing KO, Thiago Alves‘ first (and incredibly brief) UFC on FX video blog, and more…
We haven’t seen or heard much from Brock Lesnar since his first round UFC 141 TKO loss to Alistair Overeem and subsequent retirement from MMA. Most of us assumed he was likely off on another possibly illegal hunting trip, or perhaps was spending day and night just getting on top of that smoking hot wife of his. In either case, the former UFC Heavyweight Champ recently popped up in Minneapolis to present Minnesota Gopher freshman wrestler Logan Storley with the 2011 Junior Hodge Trophy. Storley, who recently helped the Gophers clinch half of the Big Ten Dual Meet conference championship (along with Penn State), attended the same high school as Lesnar, who, as we all know, was a NCAA Division I Champion himself. After compiling an incredible 262-3 record, Storley was voted the nation’s best prep high school wrestler by the Amateur Athletic Union and WIN Magazine. Now start training those hands, son.
Check out a plethora of videos from around the MMA blogosphere below, including a nasty Thai Boxing KO, Thiago Alves‘ first (and incredibly brief) UFC on FX video blog, and more…
MMA Stars Talk Valentine’s Day
Yury Bessmertny KO’s Gago Drago – Thai Box Mania 2012 (skip to the 7:25 mark for the KO)
As many are aware, WWE champion CM Punk was scheduled to accompany his friend and UFC fighter, Chael Sonnen, to the Octagon on January 28.The upcoming event—the UFC on FOX 2 special—will emanate from Chicago, the hometown of Punk.Given the …
As many are aware, WWE champion CM Punk was scheduled to accompany his friend and UFC fighter, Chael Sonnen, to the Octagon on January 28.
The upcoming event—the UFC on FOX 2 special—will emanate from Chicago, the hometown of Punk.
Given the location, Punk’s presence at the show was to simply show support and rally the crowd behind Sonnen before his bout with Mark Munoz.
In fact, Punk had already gotten approval from the WWE to make the appearance and everyone, especially him, was under the impression it was going to happen.
However, all it took was one man to curtail Punk’s plans to show up at the UFC broadcast—and one is more than enough if your name is Vince McMahon.
According to F4WOnline, McMahon’s refusal to allow CM Punk to attend the show, let alone show his face on FOX TV, came out of the blue:
Dave Meltzer writes about the situation in detail:
It is extremely unlikely that C.M. Punk will be walking Chael Sonnen to the octagon on the 1/28 show in Chicago. Punk, in fact, has been told that he shouldn’t even be at the show. Front Row Brian, a noted poster on message boards including ours, who broke all aspects of this story from the beginning, first noted yesterday that Punk was told by Vince McMahon that he couldn’t walk Sonnen to the ring and that he didn’t want him at the show. Punk also confirmed to Ariel Helwani yesterday that he would not be allowed to walk Sonnen to the ring.
We contacted two people very close to the situation, one who noted that officially nothing was 100% but that they would be surprised if it happened. The other noted that Punk got the official word yesterday after pretty much being told on Monday and described it as Vince just being in one of his moods. Punk and Sonnen had become friends, which makes sense given that Punk is a pro wrestler who overachieved from a marketing standpoint including by learning from MMA, and Sonnen is an MMA fighter who overachieved from a marketing standpoint from learning from pro wrestling. Sonnen had asked Punk to accompany him since it was in Chicago and Punk and Sonnen both got it cleared. But when it became a news story, WWE had a change of heart.
Being a consummate businessman, it is perplexing that McMahon would suddenly forbid Punk from escorting Sonnen to the Octagon.
Logically, there are only good things that would result from the current WWE champion hobnobbing with one of the UFC’s top stars.
The most invaluable benefit is the exposure—from both UFC die-hards and the casual mainstream audience—Punk would garner.
And more than just being highlighted on a hyped, nationally-televised event is the legitimacy the “Straight Edge” superstar would reap via his association with a “real” combatant in Sonnen.
In addition, any fears that Punk—and by extension, the WWE—would be undermined by the UFC announcers are unfounded. If such were the case, UFC president Dana White wouldn’t have allowed Brock Lesnar to partner with the WWE regarding the video game WWE ’12. In reality, White didn’t have to share his top draw with the WWE, but he did.
Consequently, the only possible reason for McMahon’s decision is that he does not want any member of his roster to transcend the WWE brand.
For example, after having to endure Steve Austin’s retirement, The Rock’s Hollywood dreams and Lesnar’s abrupt exit, McMahon may be paranoid about relying on his talent—and their whims—to carry the company.
Instead, by reinforcing the WWE global brand as a singular entity, superstars become relatively interchangeable in an organization wherein the whole exceeds the sum of its parts.
Even Dana White isn’t safe from the paparazzi when he’s leaving a club after a night on the town. As the UFC president was leaving “The Agency” in Hollywood, he was asked questions by the fans gathered around the exit of the clu…
Even Dana White isn’t safe from the paparazzi when he’s leaving a club after a night on the town.
As the UFC president was leaving “The Agency” in Hollywood, he was asked questions by the fans gathered around the exit of the club about topics ranging from Brock Lesnar to Jon Jones and even New Year’s resolutions.
White said that he would let the former UFC heavyweight champion Lesnar return to the WWE, the company that first made him a household name before making the jump to the biggest MMA company in the world.
With the drawing power of Lesnar now gone from the UFC, White said that current light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones could be the company’s next big star as he was proclaimed by White as one of the baddest men on the planet.
Before escaping the questions, the act of making New Year’s resolutions isn’t a popular topic with White as he said people should wake up each day as if it were New Year’s Day instead of just January 1st.
While some people might take this and run with it saying Brock is going back to the WWE and Jones is going to be the next Lesnar in the UFC, Dana White looked to be a bit over served after his evening at “The Agency” so I would take what he said with a grain of salt.
So Bleachers Report readers, what did you think about the comments made by Dana White in the video and is there any truth about White letting Brock Lesnar leave his contract with the UFC and return to the WWE?
Chris Humphrey is a featured columnist for bleacherreport.com. He has covered everything from college football, college basketball, UFC, NFL, NBA and the WWE in his short time writing for the website. You can become a fan of him on B/R and follow him on Twitter @_CBH_.
Brock Lesnar’s UFC return after a year-long battle with the intestinal disease diverticulitis was one of the most highly anticipated moments of 2011. The UFC 141 battle between he and Alistair Overeem was essentially a No. 1 contenders’ bou…
Brock Lesnar’s UFC return after a year-long battle with the intestinal disease diverticulitis was one of the most highly anticipated moments of 2011. The UFC 141 battle between he and Alistair Overeem was essentially a No. 1 contenders’ bout with the winner likely being the next man to fight current heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos.
It didn’t last long, though, as Overeem battered Lesnar’s weakened body with kicks and knees before finally knocking him out less than halfway through the first round. With that, Lesnar announced his retirement from the sport in the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.
So what’s next for the former NCAA and UFC champion?
Well, if you’ve been looking around on the Internet much since Friday night, you have probably seen the rumors that he will be returning to the WWE.
As crazy as that might sound on the surface, it actually makes quite a bit of sense for the WWE to bring in the former superstar. There is a potential program available with a man who he has quite a bit of history with. I’m talking, of course, about The Undertaker.
These two pro wrestling legends have feuded before on camera, but a famous video following Lesnar’s UFC 121 loss to Cain Velasquez in 2010 showed that there may be some legitimate bad blood between the two mammoth heavyweights.
The WWE has a great opportunity to promote a feud between Lesnar and The Undertaker in 2012. A question of real life bad blood has made countless storylines much more effective in the past, and when it has to do with two guys who legitimately could beat the snot out of one another, things just become that much more intriguing.
Only one match has been officially announced for WrestleMania XXVIII on April 1. The event, which will take place from Sun Life Stadium in Miami is set to be headlined by the much-anticipated legend-vs-legend bout between John Cena and The Rock.
However one thing that has become a WrestleMania tradition is the winning streak held by The Undertaker at the event, which currently stands at an unbelievable 19-0. As of right now, “The Dead Man” does not have a scheduled opponent for the event.
Needless to say, a semi-main event between Lesnar and The Undertaker could help make WrestleMania XXVIII an even more monumental event than it otherwise looks like it will be.
While it’s true that pro wrestling is still a strenuous activity, the training is quite a bit different. While performers are looking to hurt one another in MMA, pro wrestling is more of an art of working together to create the appearance that the performers are trying to hurt one another. As such, perhaps pro wrestling might be a better option for Brock’s health going forward, particularly if he doesn’t plan on making it a long-term return.
Lesnar has made it known that he wants to be more of a family man, but the WWE has been pretty good about making that possible for their “for hire” top-level superstars like The Rock in recent years. It is possible that Lesnar could have a very light schedule that would allow him to still be a Dad to his children and a husband to his wife, former WWE diva Rena “Sable” Mero-Lesnar.
If it is a possibility under the law, a return to the WWE does make sense. Will he do it? Time will tell. But certainly it’d be a big pay day for a small time investment.
For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron
As many are aware, WWE champion CM Punk was scheduled to accompany his friend and UFC fighter, Chael Sonnen, to the Octagon on January 28.