The WWE legend, and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, 41, will not be returning to the octagon in what would have been a fight against current UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier.
Now, Lesnar was a UFC heavyweight champion at one point in his career after defeating legend Randy Couture. But he lost to Cain Velasquez and was stripped of his belt. He hasn’t fought since 2016 and now he’s likely done with MMA altogether with his announcement of retirement.
Lesnar recently lost his WWE belt at Wrestlemania and he won’t get an opportunity to hoist the UFC belt either. This is surprising news and UFC’s President Dana White told ESPN…
“He told me he’s done. He’s retired”.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani also made the announcement via Twitter…
Story coming to https://t.co/tzuIcRazJx shortly from @bokamotoESPN and I: Brock Lesnar’s return is not likely anymore. UFC is moving on. Barring a last-minute Hail Mary, the dream is no more.
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— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 1, 2019
So this means the show must go on and Daniel Cormier will likely have a rematch with Stip Miocic who he defeated via TKO back in July last year. ESPN’s Bret Okamoto just confirmed that Cormier and Miocic will fight on Aug. 17th in California.
BREAKING: DC vs. Miocic 2 on tap for UFC pay-per-view on Aug. 17 in Anaheim, California. Both fighters confirm they are in the process of finalizing the bout to @ESPN. pic.twitter.com/LDBYf1NqtJ
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 1, 2019
Many fans will be disappointed that they won’t get to see these two athletes go head to head in the octagon but life is unpredictable sometimes and we have to respect Lesnar’s decision to call it quits…
For now, though, we’ll just have to watch Brock Lesnar perform as usual in the WWE.