During his appearance on ESPN on Tuesday, WWE Superstar John Cena commented on the two failed USADA drug tests Brock Lesnar had for his fight at UFC 200 against Mark Hunt earlier this month.
Cena appeared on ESPN with former WWE broadcast member Jonathan Coachman for the weekly “WWE Off The Top Rope” segment last night. In addition to talking about this week’s RAW and the WWE Draft, Cena commented on Lesnar’s two failed drug tests with USADA.
“There’s no way that people aren’t going to perceive Brock Lesnar differently, and when something like this happens, you set yourself a long, hard road ahead of you,” said Cena.
Lesnar tested positive in both an out-of-competition test and an in-competition test the day of his fight at UFC 200. USADA has yet to announce how they will be handling the Lesnar situation.
During his appearance on ESPN on Tuesday, WWE Superstar John Cena commented on the two failed USADA drug tests Brock Lesnar had for his fight at UFC 200 against Mark Hunt earlier this month.
Cena appeared on ESPN with former WWE broadcast member Jonathan Coachman for the weekly “WWE Off The Top Rope” segment last night. In addition to talking about this week’s RAW and the WWE Draft, Cena commented on Lesnar’s two failed drug tests with USADA.
“There’s no way that people aren’t going to perceive Brock Lesnar differently, and when something like this happens, you set yourself a long, hard road ahead of you,” said Cena.
Lesnar tested positive in both an out-of-competition test and an in-competition test the day of his fight at UFC 200. USADA has yet to announce how they will be handling the Lesnar situation.
Count something you never thought would happen as set to go down at tonight’s (Sat., July 9, 2016) UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the historic event, which is being heavily billed as the MMA leader’s all-time best card for good reason, former UFC heavyweight champion and current WWE
Count something you never thought would happen as set to go down at tonight’s (Sat., July 9, 2016) UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
At the historic event, which is being heavily billed as the MMA leader’s all-time best card for good reason, former UFC heavyweight champion and current WWE superstar Brock Lesnar will face off with fan favorite Mark Hunt in the co-main event. When Lesnar’s shocking return to the UFC after four-and-half years off was announced, MMA fans and media members were left to wonder just how Dana White & co. were able to sign “The Beast” back from the notoriously tight clutches of WWE principal owner Vince McMahon.
Well, now we’ve found out. White revealed in a scrum at yesterday’s UFC 200 weigh-ins courtesy of Fight Network (via Cageside Seats) that the WWE will be heavily co-promoted during UFC 200 after allowing Lesnar to fight in a reported “one-off” return to the UFC:
In the scrum, White revealed details about his meeting with McMahon and the WWE’s front office, which resulted in Lesnar using his WWE walkout music in his UFC comeback at UFC 200 and WWE being promoted at the landmark event:
“It was Brock’s team, me, Vince and Triple H. Brock Lesnar just weighed-in on stage and he’s fighting here tomorrow night, so it went great. Listen, Vince and I have had our ups and downs and Vince is a tough character to deal with. He’s an animal. It’s one of the things that I respect about him. I think he’s loosened up a bit on the UFC.”
White confirmed that he owed the WWE a certain amount of reciprocity after they allowed Lesnar to essentially boost UFC 200 through the stratosphere with his appearance, acknowledging that he would certainly promote their company for doing so:
“The fact that they did this, I wanted to reciprocate, so yes. And they’re doing it. If you look today, Brock’s weigh-in will be on all social media for WWE. This deal couldn’t have worked out any better.”
With the UFC and WWE notoriously known as enemies in the past, that’s probably something you never thought you’d hear.
But to get “The Beast” back in the Octagon on his biggest-ever stage, well, White is willing to what it takes.
Brock Lesnar has been in the spotlight for 14 years now. He’s won championships, he’s broken streaks, he’s conquered opponents, he’s dominated foes and he’s battled back from adversity. Now, after four memorable years in the WWE, he is set to return to…
Brock Lesnar has been in the spotlight for 14 years now. He’s won championships, he’s broken streaks, he’s conquered opponents, he’s dominated foes and he’s battled back from adversity. Now, after four memorable years in the WWE, he is set to return to the Octagon at UFC 200 to face veteran slugger Mark Hunt.
With that in mind, it’s worth taking a look at Lesnar’s greatest hits over the years. To commemorate the occasion, the Bleacher Report MMA crew is coming together with the Bleacher Report WWE team for a special piece about the Beast’s best moments, both in the ring and in the cage.
So what are those moments? And what made them so special? Read on and find out!
Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar may have been out of the Octagon for four-and-half-years, but that doesn’t mean age has made him any less outspoken or polarizing. Heading into his monumental return fight against No. 8-ranked heavyweight Mark Hunt in the co-man event of July 9’s UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) from Las Vegas, the
Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar may have been out of the Octagon for four-and-half-years, but that doesn’t mean age has made him any less outspoken or polarizing.
Heading into his monumental return fight against No. 8-ranked heavyweight Mark Hunt in the co-man event of July 9’s UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) from Las Vegas, the WWE superstar has hoarded many of MMA’s biggest headlines to himself, a true testament to his massive drawing star power. He’ll always be a controversial figure, and it was surprising the WWE lent him to the UFC for this proposed “one-off” bout.
It’s even more surprising considering the recent words of WWE’s chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon, who told Business Insider the company was not “supporting” Lesnar’s return to MMA despite the fact that they obviously worked out some kind of agreement with the UFC to have him fight at UFC 200.
True to form, Lesnar responded in classic fashion during yesterday’s UFC 200 media call (via MMA Junkie), portraying his views in short, simple, and succinct fashion:
“I really don’t give a s***. I don’t know, I don’t care what she says. I really haven’t given it much thought, I really haven’t,” Lesnar said. “Nothing’s going to change really. I’m looking forward to just stepping in the cage again. I’m waiting for that moment for the door to shut. Ask me after the fight. I don’t what the hell is going to happen.”
The polarizing behemoth isn’t looking to hide his true feelings as always, and given his almost legendary ability to make people pay to watch his fights, it’d be hard to envision either the UFC or WWE actually caring.
It’s part of what makes Lesnar so popular, and that attitude is no doubt going to lend to some huge pay-per-view (PPV) numbers for UFC 200 when it’s all settled.
As for whether or not he goes back to a WWE ring with his tail between his legs afterward, well, that’s up to “The Super Samoan.”
It looks like UFC Women’s Strawweight contender and “Dancing With The Stars” runner-up Paige VanZant will not be appearing at the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event in August.
It was rumored recently that WWE was interested in having VanZant, and potentially additional UFC stars, involved in a segment at their annual SummerSlam event, which is scheduled to feature Brock Lesnar’s WWE return following his Octagon comeback against Mark Hunt at UFC 200.
On Thursday, however, UFC announced VanZant’s next Octagon assignment, her first fight since competing on “Dancing With The Stars,” as she will fight TUF veteran Bec Rawlings at the UFC On FOX 21 event in August. According to VanZant, she would be interested in doing something with WWE in the future, but as far as August is concerned, her focus is on her fight with Rawlings.
“Fighting definitely comes first.” She added, “Right now I’m 100 percent fight-focused and I would love to participate in anything the WWE has to offer when the timing’s right as long as it works with my fight schedule. I love WWE and if they ever reached out to me again I would love to work with them but right now I’m focused on Bec Rawlings.”
The VanZant-Rawlings bout joins Anthony Pettis’ UFC featherweight debut against Charles Oliveira as two of the officially announced bouts for the UFC On FOX 21 event, which goes down live from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on August 27.
It looks like UFC Women’s Strawweight contender and “Dancing With The Stars” runner-up Paige VanZant will not be appearing at the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event in August.
It was rumored recently that WWE was interested in having VanZant, and potentially additional UFC stars, involved in a segment at their annual SummerSlam event, which is scheduled to feature Brock Lesnar’s WWE return following his Octagon comeback against Mark Hunt at UFC 200.
On Thursday, however, UFC announced VanZant’s next Octagon assignment, her first fight since competing on “Dancing With The Stars,” as she will fight TUF veteran Bec Rawlings at the UFC On FOX 21 event in August. According to VanZant, she would be interested in doing something with WWE in the future, but as far as August is concerned, her focus is on her fight with Rawlings.
“Fighting definitely comes first.” She added, “Right now I’m 100 percent fight-focused and I would love to participate in anything the WWE has to offer when the timing’s right as long as it works with my fight schedule. I love WWE and if they ever reached out to me again I would love to work with them but right now I’m focused on Bec Rawlings.”
The VanZant-Rawlings bout joins Anthony Pettis’ UFC featherweight debut against Charles Oliveira as two of the officially announced bouts for the UFC On FOX 21 event, which goes down live from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on August 27.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is an A-list celebrity, transitioning brilliantly from WWE professional wrestler to Hollywood action star, but that transition wasn’t instantaneous. After he officially ended his days as a regular performer in the WWE in 2004,…
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is an A-list celebrity, transitioning brilliantly from WWE professional wrestler to Hollywood action star, but that transition wasn’t instantaneous. After he officially ended his days as a regular performer in the WWE in 2004, his acting career hit a bit of a rut shortly thereafter. With an uncertain future, Johnson began considering another career…mixed martial artist.
Speaking with former UFC champ Matt Serra and comedian Jim Norton on the UFC Unfiltered podcast, Johnson spoke how he once mulled over starting an MMA career.
“There was a time there where I thought, man, I achieved everything I wanted to achieve in WWE, my movie career is floundering a little bit, what do I do,” said Johnson (h/t MMAFighting.com for the transcription and warning, some NSFW language). “I was relatively still young, I think I was 34. I thought, oh well maybe UFC. Maybe I should do something like that.”
Needless to say, it didn’t pan out.
“In my head, I felt like it was at least a two-year process for me to even get in the [cage], let alone the UFC,” he continued. “I wasn’t quite too sure what to do…so the idea kind of fizzled out and I continued to stay on the path of movie making.”
Obviously, that proved to be the right call. After hitting the skids following a ho-hum performance in 2004’s Walking Tall, Johnson rebounded with lead roles in Gridiron Gang and Southland Tales before becoming a top action star with films like Faster and Fast Five. Since then, he has starred in a number of major motion pictures and has become an action icon unto himself.
Despite his success, he still maintains close ties to both WWE (most recently appearing at WrestleMania 32 in April) and the UFC. Though things didn’t quite pan out with Johnson’s MMA career, WWE fans can look forward to UFC fights involving former world heavyweight champions Brock Lesnar (who returns to the cage at UFC 200) and CM Punk (who debuts at UFC 203), both of whom Johnson has high praise for.
“Anybody, by the way, who is successful in one area and then commits to MMA, I just feel like it’s the toughest f–king sport in the world,” Johnson said. “I always take my hat off to those guys.”
Dwayne “