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What’s the story?
On a recent edition of The Dan Le Batard Show, UFC President Dana White revealed the timeline of Brock Lesnar’s WWE contract expiry while discussing the rumoured Lesnar vs Jon Jones ‘super-fight’.
White elucidated that Lesnar’s deal with the WWE runs out in the summer of next year, which means that "The Beast Incarnate" is likely to stay with WWE well beyond Wrestlemania 34.
Additionally, White alluded that the primary reason behind the Lesnar-Jones fight not taking place is because the last time Brock fought for the UFC whilst still under contract with WWE, he failed a drug test, which in turn tainted his UFC matchup as well as the iconic UFC 200 PPV presentation.
In case you didn’t know…
Brock Lesnar rose to fame in the WWE in the early 2000s but quit the sport of professional wrestling to try his hand at football and then MMA.
Lesnar went on to reach the pinnacle of MMA, winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship, before his career inside the cage was cut short by consecutive bouts of diverticulitis. However, "The Conqueror" returned to the WWE in 2012 and has been performing as a part-timer for the promotion ever since.
The heart of the matter
Lesnar returned to the UFC -- still under contract with WWE -- and faced Mark Hunt at UFC 200 last year, besting the latter by Unanimous Decision. However, the win was later overturned to a No-Contest owing to Brock failing a steroid test.
Jon Jones is yet another big name who failed a drug test for PEDs, earlier this year, prior to which the MMA community was abuzz with rumours of "Bones" facing "The Beast" inside the UFC’s famed Octagon. White explained why the fight didn’t come to fruition: “Well Lesnar was still under contract to the WWE until next August. Who knows what would have happened. I don’t count my chickens anymore, I’ll tell you that.
“They didn’t want to do that again. You saw what happened the last time he was under contract (and fought),”
Furthermore, White clarified that Lesnar’s deal with the WWE expires only in the summer of 2018 and not immediately after ‘Mania 34.
What’s next?
Brock Lesnar is currently the WWE Universal Champion and is expected to drop the belt at Wrestlemania 34 next year to Roman Reigns.
Author’s take
Brock Lesnar can do it all! As and when his deal with WWE comes to a close, the possibility of him making a UFC comeback seems increasingly likely.
Regardless, professional wrestling fans can be rest assured that Paul Heyman’s client will indeed stay in the WWE for a bit longer than initially expected, and perform for the fans until summer of next year. Would you like to see him re-sign with WWE next year? Sound of in the comments!
