It’s been a little while since we’ve seen the rumor mill cranked up specifically about Brock Lesnar returning to UFC, but this interview clip TMZ Sports has released with that fed’s President, Dana White, should get things going again:
“Brock’s WWE deal is up at the end of the summer I think and I know he wants to fight so I’m sure we’ll end up getting that figured out.”
Addressing possible opponents for the 40 year old former Heavyweight Champ, White commented on two: Frenchman Francis Ngannou, who is looking to climb back up to contender status after losing a unanimous decision to current titleholder Stipe Miocic in January, and past Lesnar verbal sparring partner Jon Jones.
“[Ngannou]’s a fun fight, absolutely. Obviously, there’s a lot of options. Jon Jones is very interested in Brock Lesnar and Brock is very interested in Jon Jones.”
A showdown with former Light Heavyweight Champ Jones is the big money match, although it’s also the one with the most hurdles. Not only does Brock need to reenter USADA’s testing pool and avoid positive results for several months, but the anti-doping organization still has to officially decide Jones’ fate after his latest failed test from July of last year. That failure, for the anabolic steroid Turinabol, led to his being stripped of a UFC belt for the third time in his career.
In this interview and others, White has deferred to USADA on Jones’ status. His manager, Malki Kawa, was quoted earlier this year that he believed there’s “a 95 percent chance” his fighter returns in 2018.
From a WWE perspective, regardless of who Brock faces, White mentioning “the end of the summer” lines up with rumors Lesnar could drop the belt he currently holds in wrestling, Raw’s Universal Title, at SummerSlam. For us, who gets that bout is even more interesting than who Lesnar gets the next time he steps in the Octagon.
Stay tuned.