5 big-name fighters who could return to the UFC in 2018

The initial few UFC shows of 2018 are now out of the way, and we haven’t really been given anything spectacular just yet. With injuries sidelining both Middleweight champ Robert Whittaker and Featherweight champ Max Holloway, we’ve seen two major PPV cards take a hit.

With the promotion crying out for big stars now – particularly after Ronda Rousey’s retirement and move to WWE – they may well be forced to turn to some big names who haven’t fought in a while to bring in the big buy-rates in the upcoming months. Here are five big-name fighters who could return to the Octagon in 2018.

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#1 CM Punk

CM Punk could feature at UFC 225 in Chicago

Only a crazy person would try to argue that former WWE superstar CM Punk is a great MMA fighter – he took a one-sided beating in his only UFC appearance to date – but he certainly draws eyeballs.

His lone UFC appearance came at UFC 203, a show that drew a respectable 450,000 buys despite not having any other big names (to casual fans at least) on the card, but when he lost to the inexperienced Mickey Gall, it was expected that his UFC career was over.

Apparently, that isn’t the case. We haven’t really heard a peep from Punk since that fight in September 2016, and even though he’s reportedly still with Duke Roufus’s camp, Dana White was always negative on a potential UFC return.

More recently though he’s said he’s willing to give Punk another fight, and with the announcement that UFC 225 will take place in Chicago – Punk’s hometown - on June 9th, it looks more likely that we’ll see him in the cage again.

Current reports have Punk lined up to fight Michael ‘The Truth’ Jackson, the MMA photographer/reporter turned fighter who debuted in the UFC in 2016 with a loss to the same man who beat Punk in Mickey Gall.

Jackson is clearly a step down from Gall and with a record of 0-1, could be a beatable opponent for Punk. Although his first fight was embarrassing for all parties, the former WWE champion might have some drawing power yet, which means the UFC are likely to take a risk with him.

#2 Nate Diaz

Nate Diaz has recently been angling for a fight with Tyron Woodley

Nate Diaz hasn’t fought since losing to Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 202, but that hasn’t stopped plenty of fighters – from Tyron Woodley to Eddie Alvarez and Frankie Edgar – from calling him out, largely because they know that after his two fights with McGregor, he draws more than the majority of fighters on the roster.

Diaz has resisted calls to return thus far, largely because of his monetary demands – supposedly around $15m per fight – are far beyond what the UFC brass are willing to pay him.

But the money he made from the McGregor fights can’t last forever and at some point, it’s likely that Diaz will have to accept a slightly lower fee and get back into the cage while he’s still in his athletic prime.

Could that be in 2018? It’s probably likely, as the UFC’s lack of marketable stars means they’re probably more likely to come to a compromise with Diaz regarding his purse.

Currently, it seems like he’s angling for a fight with Woodley for the UFC Welterweight title – a match that would be ridiculous from a sporting standpoint but sounds like just the kind of crazy thing that could happen in the WME era UFC.

#3 Jon Jones

Will USADA decide to give Jon Jones a reprieve?

The mercurial Jon Jones is currently on the shelf due to a failed drug test following his July 2017 win over Daniel Cormier. That fight saw Jones regain his UFC Light-Heavyweight title, but he’s since been stripped and could face a suspension of four years if USADA decides that he knowingly took the anabolic agent turinabol.

The positive test was, of course, his second in the space of two years and he was only just returning from a one-year suspension.

However, Jones’ first suspension was cut to a year as he managed to argue successfully that the positive test was caused by a contaminated supplement – in this case, supposedly a drug for treating erectile dysfunction.

It’d be hard to believe that Jones could use the same excuse again, but realistically when it comes to the murky world of supplements and PEDs, anything is possible.

Right now Dana White is being coy when it comes to any word on Jones, simply stating that he doesn’t know when his former champion will be back, if ever.

But if we judge on USADA’s history with the UFC and its leniency when it comes to fighters using the “tainted supplement” angle to explain away positive tests, we may well see Jones back in the cage before 2018 is out.

#4 Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar last fought at UFC 200

The last time we saw former UFC Heavyweight champ – and current WWE Universal champion – Brock Lesnar inside the Octagon was at UFC 200. He defeated contender Mark Hunt there, but then tested positive for a banned estrogen blocker and was subsequently suspended by USADA for a year.

Not that it mattered to Lesnar, as he was heading back to WWE anyway with the Hunt fight being a one-off comeback.

But in recent months Dana White has been suggesting in interviews that Lesnar might not be done with the UFC just yet. His suspension was up in July 2017 and he hasn’t given any indication that a comeback is on the cards since, but White’s still suggesting that anything is possible when it comes to the former champion.

And there’s no doubt that the UFC would welcome him back with open arms due to his drawing power.

Lesnar is currently contracted with WWE until April, with reports suggesting that they could keep him tied up until August if they choose to do so. But after that, a UFC comeback could definitely be possible.

If he’s going to do it, it’s likely to have to be this year too, as he turns 41 in July. So could one of the later shows of 2018 feature ‘The Beast Incarnate’? You never know.

#5 Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor hasn't returned since his mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather

The fact that despite booking Tony Ferguson vs Khabib Nurmagomedov for the ‘UFC Lightweight title’, the UFC haven’t outright stripped current champion Conor McGregor of the belt suggests that the promotion must be expecting to get the biggest drawing athlete in combat sports back into the cage at some point.

But will that be in 2018? It likely depends on a number of various reasons.

Firstly, can the UFC even pay McGregor enough to get him back in the traditional sense? He supposedly earned at least $50m for his boxing superfight with Floyd Mayweather, which is far more than the UFC would be willing to pay him, which is why he’s talked in the past about demanding “equity” in the promotion.

Quite how this would work is anyone’s guess, as the UFC always baulked at co-promotion with the likes of Fedor Emelianenko in the past.

McGregor is the biggest drawing star in the world though, and so if the UFC would break their rules for anyone, it’d likely be him.

But do they have an opponent he’s interested in? Fans have accused him of ducking both Ferguson and Nurmagomedov in the past, and it’d likely be one of those fighters who the UFC would look to match him with if he did return.

But if the UFC are still struggling for star power then, expect them to throw everything they can at the Irishman to try to tempt him back into the game.