Brock Lesnar hits free agency; Could he come back to the UFC or Bellator?

Jul 7, 2018; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Brock Lesnar enters the octagon after Daniel Cormier (blue gloves) beat Stipe Miocic (red gloves) during UFC 226 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday news starting to leak out that former UFC heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar (5-3, 1 NC), was a free agent. PW Insider was the first to report that Lesnar’s contract with the WWE had expired.

Since the news broke, many have discovered that the WWE has pulled all Lesnar merchandise from their website. Of course the news has prompted many in the sports world to ponder what is next for Brock Lesnar.

Could the former UFC heavyweight champion make his return to MMA at 43 years old? Lesnar had previously entered the USADA Testing Pool in his effort to come back and challenge Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title after their exchange at UFC 226.

UFC or Bellator for Lesnar?

We all know now that Lesnar did end up deciding to not return for the fight with Cormier. Instead, Lesnar decided to stick it out with the WWE instead of making his return to the UFC.

Bellator President Scott Coker came out yesterday and said that they would be interested in signing Lesnar if he’s available. Coker told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, “Yes, if he’s truly available. Fedor vs. Brock is interesting. It’s the fight that never happened!”

Of course the problem with that is the fact that Lesnar is still technically under contract with the UFC. Dana White announced in late 2018 that Lesnar still had an exclusive MMA deal with the UFC. He said that Lesnar still had fights left on his contract.

We have not seen Brock Lesnar inside a UFC cage competing since UFC 200. That night, Lesnar won a decision over Mark Hunt. Of course, Lesnar went on to test positive, and the fight was overturned to a no contest.

Jon Jones (26-1, 1 NC) took to Twitter yesterday to give his thoughts on fighting Brock Lesnar. Jones had called Lesnar out after he defeated Daniel Cormier in hopes of making a super fight with the former heavyweight champion.

Lesnar is one of the three greatest draws the sport of mixed martial arts has ever seen. Him alongside Conor McGregor and Georges St. Pierre were all superstars. Lesnar was truly the first mega star given his background and popularity in the WWE.

It will be interesting to see if Lesnar decided to come back to the UFC or Bellator, retire from everything, or perhaps sign a new pro wrestling deal with AEW. Time will tell, but it’s definitely a situation to monitor.