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MMA Fighting/Ariel Helwani: Brock Lesnar close to signing deal to fight at UFC 200

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J

JehutyRunner

Banned
Worth noting: for all intents and purposes, Lesnar is still under contract with the WWE too.

The UFC is in serious talks with former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar to have him fight at UFC 200 on July 9 in Las Vegas, multiple sources confirmed with MMA Fighting.

Both sides are close to finalizing a deal, and if all goes well, Lesnar's return to mixed martial arts could be announced imminently.

While talks are progressing well between Lesnar and the UFC, an opponent for Lesnar isn't close to being finalized. It is unclear at this time who is under consideration.

The 38-year-old Lesnar hasn't competed in MMA since his Dec. 2011 loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141. Lesnar's career was cut short due to his struggles with diverticulitis, and after leaving MMA, he returned to World Wrestling Entertainment, where he's been performing for the last four years.

Since leaving the UFC, both sides have often flirted with the idea of a reunion.
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Link
 
J

JehutyRunner

Banned
mreddie said:
Either Dana is opening up the books to both Brock and Vince or this might get messy.
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That's my thinking too in regards to the former. I think if there's some sort of co-operation between the two, I wouldn't be surprised if Vince called in the the return favour for January/February to Dana for Ronda or Conor to be in a Wrestlemania match next April in Orlando.
 
B

bigkrev

Member
Id laugh at this as being fake, but Ariel is a legit reporter and wouldn't be putting this out if he didn't have a source he trusted.

I can't fathom Vince letting him fight and possibly loose though, killing his credibility
 
L

Limit

Member
This only builds up Brock's cred in WWE even more. Having a guy on the roster who is an active MMA fighter. I don't see how WWE would have any qualms about this.
 
F

Fat4all

Banned
sg-wcw_announcement.jpg
 
F

funkystudent

Member
If he can still wrestle at the big events like wrestlemania this is a real crazy deal but great for everyone involved.

Not sure I could see that kind of deal happen though.
 
O

Obliterator

Member
bigkrev said:
Id laugh at this as being fake, but Ariel is a legit reporter and wouldn't be putting this out if he didn't have a source he trusted.

I can't fathom Vince letting him fight and possibly loose though, killing his credibility
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Ariels track record for big announcements is almost at 100% accuracy. If he's reporting it it's real.

Which really makes me wonder how the hell they worked this thing out
 
V

VoxPop

Member
Limit said:
This only builds up Brock's cred in WWE even more. Having a guy on the roster who is an active MMA fighter. I don't see how WWE would have any qualms about this.
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Cause if some fat Samoan KOs him inside a minute, his entire gimmick is destroyed.
 
M

MK_768

Member
Limit said:
This only builds up Brock's cred in WWE even more. Having a guy on the roster who is an active MMA fighter. I don't see how WWE would have any qualms about this.
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I mean if Lesnar gets seriously injured I think they'd care.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
I can see this happening, but it happening on a card NEXT month is what strikes me as hard to believe. What kind of shape is Brock in? For him being in MMA shape seems to be different than WWE shape, where he seems to carry more weight.
 
M

mariachi507

Member
This sounds messy. I have a hard time seeing Vince letting one of his performers appear for another company. However, if there was a guy that Vince would give in to, it would probably be Lesnar. How much longer does Brock have on his WWE contract?
 
L

Limit

Member
VoxPop said:
Cause if some fat Samoan KOs him inside a minute, his entire gimmick is destroyed.
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Perfect time to debut Samoey Joey then. Whether he wins or loses WWE will find a way to capitalize. Everyone loves a redemption comeback storyline. And it will make future contract negotiations with Brock a lot easier.
 
O

Obliterator

Member
Ninja Scooter said:
I can see this happening, but it happening on a card NEXT month is what strikes me as hard to believe. What kind of shape is Brock in? For him being in MMA shape seems to be different than WWE shape, where he seems to carry more weight.
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It's been reported UFC has had a secret fight still for 200 for a while. Brock very well may have been doing a fight camp in secret
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
mariachi507 said:
This sounds messy. I have a hard time seeing Vince letting one of his performers appear for another company. However, if there was a guy that Vince would give in to, it would probably be Lesnar. How much longer does Brock have on his WWE contract?
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it's always had the potential for pretty good cross-promotion, maybe Vince is finally wising up? This whole "protect the business" mindset isn't really necessary anymore. People know it's rigged. Brock losing an MMA fight doesn't really affect his WWE character in the minds of fans.
 
B

bigkrev

Member
Maybe they are putting Brock in the Hall of Fame? Or they put individual fights in the Hall, and his UFC 100 main event vs Frank.Mir is still the biggest fight in the companies history. This would make a lot more sense than him actually fighting.
 
O

Obliterator

Member
bigkrev said:
Maybe they are putting Brock in the Hall of Fame? Or they put individual fights in the Hall, and his UFC 100 main event vs Frank.Mir is still the biggest fight in the companies history. This would make a lot more sense than him actually fighting.
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No. If Ariel says he's coming back for a fight he's coming back for a fight
 
B

Busty

Banned
*shrugs shoulders*

In terms of a weird, circus side show curiosity for UFC 200 I am totally into it.
 
Rellik

Rellik

Member
Didn't he pretty much say he was done with MMA on Austin's podcast? He even went into how he felt when he was training for a comeback and how he wasn't mentally there anymore.

So now we are to believe he's just going to fight in a months time, while under a 3 year WWE contract, after a long ass break from serious MMA training and competition?

And why would Vince agree to this? If he gets KO'd in 10 seconds, one of his only big names looks like a chump. Even if he wins, but breaks his arm in the process, then one of his only big names misses Summerslam.

On the flip side, a few weeks ago, the UFC website did add Brock to the active roster again, and then quickly removed him. I saw it on Twitter with people joking about his return. I don't think those people may be laughing it off as much right now.
 
B

BassForever

Member
I wonder if this is how they work Connor McGregor back into UFC 200 since I really dunno what other star would be big enough for the WWE to let this happen.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
Rellik said:
Didn't he pretty much say he was done with MMA on Austin's podcast? He even went into how he felt when he was training for a comeback and how he wasn't mentally there anymore.

So now we are to believe he's just going to fight in a months time, while under a 3 year WWE contract, after a long ass break from serious MMA training and competition?

And why would Vince agree to this? If he gets KO'd in 10 seconds, one of his only big names looks like a chump. Even if he wins, but breaks his arm in the process, then one of his only big names misses Summerslam.

On the flip side, a few weeks ago, the UFC website did add Brock to the active roster again, and then quickly removed him. I saw it on Twitter with people joking about his return. I don't think those people may be laughing it off as much right now.
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I got the impression from the Austin podcast that he loved MMA more than wrestling, but his health issues got in the way. I get the feeling that if it were up to him he would have been an MMA lifer.

As for Vince, the stuff about him looking bad after a loss are overblown. I don't think people care. He's still a larger than life personality and can will always get a huge pop in the ring. Brock is also maybe the biggest name on the UFC roster in terms of being a draw right now. There's incentive for Vince to keep him happy and maybe relent on something he wouldn't have done for other wrestlers.
 
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