OH. MY. GOD.#UFC200https://t.co/ffhsOYIRvz
— UFC (@ufc) June 5, 2016
On Saturday night, UFC announced that WWE Superstar and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar will be returning to the octagon for next month’s UFC 200 pay-per-view from Las Vegas.
The blockbuster news sent shockwaves throughout the MMA and pro wrestling worlds.
Amidst the speculation regarding what Lesnar fighting at UFC 200 means for his future inside the squared circle, WWE provided us with the following statement:
“Brock Lesnar remains under contract to WWE, however, he has been granted a one-off opportunity to compete at UFC 200. Follow this milestone event on July 9, Brock will return to WWE SummerSlam on Sunday, August 21 live on WWE Network.
Early last year, news broke that Lesnar was participating in an MMA training camp and was strongly considering a full-time return to UFC. While he ultimately signed a multi-year deal with WWE (rumored to be for 3 years), it’s now apparent that Lesnar’s WWE deal included an option to take a UFC fight. His opponent will be revealed on Monday on ESPN.
The original UFC main event was scheduled to be a Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rematch, but that match was scrapped after McGregor announced his ‘retirement’ on social media. Since then, he and boxing great Floyd Mayweather have been teasing a boxing vs. MMA super-fight, but it’s been pretty apparent that showdown would never happen and they were just capitalizing on the buzz surrounding McGregor’s UFC contract dispute. UFC went on to announce Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier 2 as the new main event of UFC 200. The McGregor-Diaz rematch is finally signed and will headline UFC 202 on 8/20.
For much more on Brock Lesnar’s return and UFC 200, visit our partner site MMANews.com.