Based On Brock Lesnar's Track Record, Is He Going to Bail On the UFC?

Brock Lesnar has IT. That one thing within someone that you can't quite put a finger on. You can't help but be drawn in by him. He radiates a sort of charisma that is nearly impossible to resist. You may love him or you may hate him, but one way or another you feel something about him. Part of that is the fact that he could care less how much you or I think of him. He is a certifiable monster of a draw and has brought a ton of attention to whatever his endeavor was at that particular moment. So much so that companies make him the focus of their entire promotion. The problem? He seems to have a relatively short attention span.

Lesnar has a long and illustrious track record as an athlete. He got his start as an amateur wrestler and did very well, winning the 2000 NCAA wrestling championship as a heavyweight. He accomplished about as much as you can in the sport and caught the attention of Jim Ross and the WWE. So he moved on to the next big thing in his life, pun intended, professional wrestling.

After dominating the OVW, the WWE's feeder promotion at the time, he was called up to the main roster and given a monster push. In just a few short months he won the WWE title at the second biggest event of the year. He would win the title again the next year at WrestleMania, the biggest event the WWE puts on every year. He earned the right to do so by winning the Royal Rumble. Basically, he did everything there was to do in WWE within about a year's worth of time. So, being fed up with the travel schedule and the toll it took on his body, combined with the fact that he had accomplished everything there was to accomplish in the business, he abruptly left.

His next "lifelong dream" was to become a professional football player. He claimed he never wanted to go his whole life without ever trying so he walked on with the Minnesota Vikings. He actually did rather well playing in a few preseason games and was a late cut. The Vikings saw enough potential that they offered him a contract to go play in Europe. After claiming it was a lifelong dream to be a football player, he gave it up rather quickly and told them no, instead electing to go back to professional wrestling, this time in Japan. Much like in WWE, he quickly rose to the top there, winning the IWGP heavyweight championship. But just like every other time, after having great success early on, he left. Next stop: mixed martial arts.

After what was essentially a squash match in K-1 against Min Soo Kim, Lesnar was quickly signed by the UFC. They were no different than WWE or New Japan. They saw how much of a draw he can be so they brought him in and gave him a major push. After losing his first fight, but looking great in doing so, he was given a fight he could win against Heath Herring. After doing so, he was rushed into a title fight with Randy Couture. This was all very familiar territory for Brock. He's such a major draw that every promotion does whatever they have to, to make him the centerpiece of the company. But will it prove to be a mistake for the UFC?

Of course, he won that title fight with Couture and became the biggest draw in the history of the sport in doing so. It looked like Lesnar, and by extension the UFC, would enjoy a long and lucrative run with Brock as the heavyweight champion. Unfortunately, after a couple of title defenses, Lesnar lost the title to Cain Velasquez in embarrassing fashion. He was soundly outclassed in every area of the fight and essentially humiliated in front of millions of people. Talk immediately turned to what would be next for the UFC's biggest star. A third fight with Frank Mir? A rematch with Randy Couture? Perhaps a fight with the legendary Minotauro Nogueira? If history shows us anything, it's that all of these possibilities may not matter. He just might decide to call it quits.

That's blatant speculation on my part. I'm not saying that's what he is doing or even that, that's been talked about. I just think it's worth noting that when Brock has achieved everything there is to achieve with a company, like he already has with the UFC, he's been known to cut and run and find something new to occupy his time with. Maybe this loss will make him hungrier than ever and he'll have a renewed vigor for the sport. But history has shown us that it's a very real possibility he may just decide to leave the sport altogether.