Dana White expects Brock Lesnar to be back with the UFC

[Dave]

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Dana White has said over the last few days that there is a "very, very, very good chance" that Brock Lesnar will be back with the UFC. Whether that is as a full time fighter or not remains to be seen. But with Lesnar meeting with White over the weekend, speculation is beginning to increase that the Beast will have some sort of commitment with the UFC after WrestleMania.

For me, I think he's going to try and wrangle a deal for himself much like the one he has now. He'll be a WWE wrestler some of the year and will probably get one or two fights with the UFC too. I think that suits everyone the best but there's a lot of organisation that goes along with that. I think everyone is keen to get a slice of the Lesnar pie but money always talks and Lesnar is a business man at heart.

I still think he stays with the WWE after Mania. His schedule will likely be reduced with the WWE after he loses the championship, so he'll be free to do whatever he wants in his spare time.

[klunderbunker]

What a coincidence that these talks start up at the same time that Lesnar might be up for a new contract in WWE. I have no idea what Lesnar is going to do, but I know he's a smart businessman. He's making WWE realize that he has other offers out there and there's a very strong chance he does return to the UFC. A guy with that kind of look and intensity isn't going to be ignored and people will watch his fights, even if he gets his head caved in again. Smart move, even if it doesn't go anywhere.

[Jack-Hammer]

Lesnar might be a passionless mercenary who has no particular loyalty to anyone, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he's a savvy businessman who knows that he's worth a lot. In real life, when someone is extremely good at what they do and/or is able to bring in a lot of money doing it and they don't let anyone forget it, it's often not the most endearing of qualities and Lesnar has never made any attempt to hide that trait. Does he generate a lot of money for WWE? Yes he does and he knows it, I don't know that he brings in enough to warrant a $12 million a year paycheck but, then again, it's exceedingly possible that the honchos at WWE actually know quite a bit more about company finances than I do. At any rate, Lesnar is someone who knows that he can generate buzz around whatever it is he's going to be doing and that buzz can lead to big money.

Now does that mean WWE needs Lesnar as much as they did 3 or 4 years back? Quite possibly because WWE continues to set new records for revenue, their brand recognition has grown by leaps and bounds, they've got mainstream sports sites and publications like Sports Illustrated, CBS and ESPN regularly doing stories on them, the company's stock is worth almost $3 billion, which is almost double where it was at this same time last year, Fox is said to be passionately interested in signing WWE to a new television deal with rumors saying the numbers are in the $400 to $500 million a year mark, WWE just signed Ronda Rousey to a full time contract, women's wrestling itself in WWE is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was when Lesnar signed his last deal with the company, etc..

It's possible that the UFC could use Lesnar more than WWE at this point. The UFC on Fox specials don't draw much anymore, the show of FS1 only averages about 870,000 viewers each week, big draws like Jon Jones or Anderson Silva have had their reputations ruined by failed drug tests and suspensions, Conor McGregor is another savvy businessman cut from the same cloth as Lesnar who'll only come back from doing other things for massive sums, none of the female MMA stars are particularly big draws compared to Rousey, Rousey herself will be with WWE for at least several years and, truth be told, her best days in MMA are probably already behind her.

[Yaz]

It will be interesting to see how much WWE feels they need him post Wrestlemania. While his feuds have gotten more interesting, I kind of feel like the actual interest in Brock in WWE is waning. Brock exists to give Roman a rub, and after Wrestlemania, assuming the reports of a SummerSlam rematch are false, they would need to find a new purpose for him and I'm not sure they care about anyone not named Roman enough to do that. I had heard rumors and reports that he was going to sign a short 5-6 month deal to continue the feud with Roman into SummerSlam, fully putting him over for good, but he knows how to play both sides, so he may be trying to get the best deal on that short term contract. He may also be trying to get a better deal from the UFC. He knows they are hurting for stars and that Dana will give him high profile and likely hand picked fights on big cards.

He will turn 41 over the summer, so his time in either world is coming to a close and Brock has never had a real 9-5 job, so he is doing his best to maximize his earnings now while he can. I don't know how much money he has saved up or how much he could make from his endorsements. I know at one point he had a hunting show on some outdoor channel, but I doubt Brock is going to be the guy who goes into insurance sales when he retires so getting money while he can isn't an issue for me.

Personally I'm to a point where I don't honestly care about him in either world though. Like I said, he exists in WWE to be the catalyst for Roman push #9 and in UFC he exists as an above average fighter who was gifted a title shot because of his pro wrestling background.