When UFC announced Brock Lesnar’s return for the UFC 200 PPV, the entire world stood up and took notice. After all, Lesnar has been WWE’s marquee name; from ending The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania to manhandling John Cena like no one had ever seen before, Brock Lesnar, for all intents and purposes, was WWE’s biggest star.
Everyone was excited about Lesnar’s return to UFC. The former UFC Heavyweight Champion became their main attraction – the Conor McGregor of the last decade. When Lesnar pummelled Frank Mir and flipped the crowd off at UFC 100, the world bore witness to the birth of a phenomenon. While UFC did have its fair share of “bad boys” in Tito Ortiz and the likes, Brock Lesnar was a different animal.
To understand the reason behind Lesnar’s popularity, all you need to do is a glance at his amateur wrestling record, combined with his superhuman strength during his pro wrestling days. The more you scratch the surface, the easier it becomes to understand his charm. Being a freak athlete isn’t common in today’s world, but Lesnar has always been an anomaly.
However, one particular individual wasn’t impressed with Lesnar’s credentials. In fact, there was only one person who was skeptical about Lesnar being clean. His opponent for UFC 200, Mark Hunt lobbied for USADA to test Lesnar, and ensure that both men entered the cage clean, and on an even platform.
Every fighter who intends to fight in the UFC enters the USADA testing pool four months prior to the fight date. However, Lesnar was exempted from this rule, which didn’t go down well with his opponent. When asked about the PED allegations prior to the fight, Lesnar simply replied, “I've been dealing with that my entire life. I’m a white boy and I'm jacked -- deal with it. What do you want me to say? I'm a white boy and I'm jacked. Deal with it.”
On the surface, Lesnar’s response doesn’t strike anyone as odd. However, upon closer inspection, we can uncover several possibilities, which may have attributed to Lesnar’s meteoric rise to fame. While no one can prove that Lesnar has been on PEDs since the beginning of his professional wrestling career, recent facts, and the holes in WWE’s Wellness Policy program point to a much bigger issue.
Brock Lesnar’s initial run with WWE
Lesnar’s initial run with WWE left the former WWE Champion disenchanted with the business, and Lesnar recently opened up about his alcohol and drug problems, which led to Lesnar walking away from the business. Back when Lesnar was with WWE in early 2000s, there was no Wellness Policy. In fact, WWE put the Wellness Policy in place following the sudden demise of Eddie Guerrero.
Under WWE’s Wellness Policy program, WWE superstars cannot take PEDs, drugs (non-recreational or otherwise) and pain killers (unless specified otherwise by WWE’s doctors). In fact, a large number of former and current WWE stars faced suspensions when they were popped during WWE’s random drug tests.
The fact that the company didn’t have a proper drug testing program in place during Lesnar’s initial run with the company opens up various possibilities. Moreover, the Wellness Policy program came into effect in 2006 - 2 years after Lesnar left the company
Brock Lesnar’s first run in the UFC
While UFC’s partnership with USADA started last year, the State Athletic Commissions used to take care of the drug tests in the pre - USADA era. Elvis Sinosic, a former UFC Light Heavyweight fighter turned analyst delved into the rampant use of PEDs in the sport in the pre - USADA era, and how the fighters got away while using steroids.
In short, Elvis stated that the drug tests were mostly done for recreational drugs, considering a more comprehensive drug testing would need a lot of finance – something that the sport (or the Athletic Commissions) did not have. Elvis went on to claim that almost all the fighters were taking steroids - an allegation which, unfortunately, keeps rearing its ugly head even today.
While this doesn’t mean Lesnar was ‘juicing’ during his first run in the UFC, there was a definite possibility of the fighters taking steroids, and getting away with it. A look into Vitor Belfort’s pre - USADA and post - USADA performances paints a complete picture, about how PEDs/TRT can boost a fighter’s chances in hand to hand combat.
Brock Lesnar’s return to WWE and getting flagged by USADA
Now here is something that’s worth noting – while WWE requires all of its talents to undergo drug tests, there are exceptions. Part time performers, including the likes of Triple H, Brock Lesnar and Vince McMahon himself aren’t subjected to drug testing by the company. There was an interesting conversation between Vince McMahon and a reporter (from 2007), which sheds some light on how the drug testing is done in WWE.
By Vince McMahon’s own admission, part-timers aren’t tested in the company, which once again makes it possible for someone like Lesnar to partake in “questionable practices”.
Brock Lesnar is indeed a freak athlete; however, the more we dwell deeper in the past and him getting flagged by USADA earlier this year, the more we ask ourselves: Is Brock really just a jacked white boy?
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