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One of the men current WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar could face for a big UFC payday - Light Heavyweight champ Jon Jones - successfully and dominantly defended his title at the company’s Sat., Mar. 2 event in Las Vegas. Jones’ win over Anthony Smith at UFC 235 led to the question of what’s next for the controversial 31 year old. Earlier in the week, when asked whether he’d rather face Lesnar or his arch-rival and current Heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier, Jones picked Brock.
But Cormier also wants to face the Beast Incarnate, and that fight’s already been set up with an in-cage showdown right out the pro wrestling playbook. So UFC President Dana White says that’s the fight we’re gonna get... eventually.
The 40 year old Cormier is currently rehabbing various injuries, including a bad back. Lesnar is booked for a match against Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 35 on April 7, and rumored to be doing WWE’s next Saudi Arabian show in May.
At the post-fight press conference on Saturday, White said:
“I think that Brock and Cormier want that fight. I owe Cormier a lot, Cormier wants that fight, Cormier’s gonna get it.
I have no clue [what the timeframe for a Cormier/Lesnar fight would be]. I literally have not talked to Brock at all. He’s doing his WWE thing. He’s one of those guys when he’s ready he’ll call me. I don’t chase anybody around, man. I make fights. And when people are ready to fight, they let me know. And if they’re not, we don’t talk.”
Dana White says Daniel Cormier is getting the Brock Lesnar fight.
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) March 3, 2019
Full UFC 235 post fight press conference:https://t.co/mbR9AUyH1U pic.twitter.com/Eana4wLDex
The big question is, once Brock calls Dana, will it be to definitely return to the Octagon to face DC, or to get negotiating leverage to use for his next contract from WWE? We all thought Lesnar was gone last spring, and then all-but-knew he was heading back to MMA in the fall. But Vince McMahon reportedly busted out his checkbook, and he’s still a pro wrestler... if one that only wrestles quarterly.
At least we know what UFC wants to do with Lesnar if he comes back. We’ll see what happens next.