WWE News UFC/WWE News: Rumors - Brock Lesnar looking for an out to his UFC deal to return to WWE
Dec 27, 2010 - 10:47:00 PM
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By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor
The MMA message boards are going crazy tonight following a comment from Dave Meltzer of Yahoo Sports on a radio show stating that Brock Lesnar is looking to get out of his final contracted UFC fight. That could open the door for him to get back into WWE, either for one big wrestling match at WrestleMania or to be special referee for a big match.
The information at this point isn't detailed enough or written declaratively enough to draw conclusions regarding whether this is something Lesnar is strongly thinking about, is intent on doing, or is rumored to be considering.
Until Meltzer or another report puts his or her name on a byline standing by a story that Lesnar is definitively trying to get out of his UFC contract and possibly leave the sport of MMA, it's merely open speculation.
The Sherdog message board featured comments such as these:
-"I predicted his defeat and early retirement long ago. I knew those flaws wouldn't get him that far. But some were too dumb and bought the hype. I hope they learned their lesson."
Threads, though, regarding this story have since been removed from Sherdog's message board. [Update: Two Lesnar threads were merged resulting in links not working temporarily to the comments linked on their main page.]
"The Underground" MMA website is headlining with the story, quoting Meltzer. It also features a thread with over 200 posts commenting on it.
One person defended Lesnar from the people criticizing him for never being a true MMA fighter: "People are saying he's a not a fighter and never will be. Guys, he lost his debut in almost an embarrassing easy manner. He trained hard and fought his way back to a rematch and won! He doesn't like to get hit, that's why he's quitting? Did you see the Carwin fight? He got his butt KICKED that first round and came back and finished him in the second like a true champion. Guys, he's staged comebacks and beaten enough big names to prove that he's a real fighter. If the man has lost his taste for it, so be it but he absolutely had it in the first place."
Meltzer said Lesnar hasn't trained since losing to Cain Velasquez nor communicated with UFC in general or Dana White specifically.
Lesnar, after taking bad beatings in his last two fights (1-1), may not be willing to step into UFC again if he feels he can't be a top tier heavyweight. He may feel he's too behind on key aspects of MMA technique to catch up to Cain Velasquez and that reality has sunk in.
Coincidentally or not, Frank Mir has been pulled from his scheduled fight against against Brendan Shaub this spring, but there's no report of it being due to an injury. A Lesnar-Mir rematch has long been speculated on, although Dana White said at first he wanted to book it, but because fans were luke-warm at best toward that rubber match, he was reconsidering.
Keller's Analysis: Keep in mind that Paul Heyman is associated with Lesnar, so anything is possible regarding Lesnar, WWE, and UFC with games being played to position Lesnar for the best possible payday and leverage while negotiating with both sides. Heyman has connections to all three parties and wouldn't be afraid to use media rumors to get a buzz going to help his friend.
The MMA community has a lot of Lesnar doubters and critics who could never get past his pro wrestling background, as if that had anything to do - pro or con - with his MMA credentials as an NCAA Division I champion. This type of speculation fuels that talk, which could even be being used to motivate Brock to come back by someone who fears Lesnar is losing his passion to train. There's a lot of things that could be behind this, but given Lesnar's misery on the road full time for WWE, thinking he'd return to working 200 travel days a year for WWE seems totally out of the question. Also, given Brock's personality and single-minded drive, it's hard to imagine he'd let the loss to Velasquez be the last memory of him in a competitive sport.
Check back here and MMATorch.com for more developments on this story.
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