Dana White
Will Lesnar return to WWE tonight?
When Brock Lesnar abruptly retired after UFC 141 in December, it didn’t take long for the speculation to start up on if he’d return to his old home in the WWE. If that comes to fruition, UFC president Dana White apparently has no issues with it.
Though Lesnar retired from the UFC still under contract and White initially was non-commital in Las Vegas immediately after the fight about what that would mean for him potentially returning to his pro wrestling roots, the question may have been answered Monday.
In a post at The Underground forum at MixedMartialArts.com, White said Lesnar is free to sign with the WWE – which Dave Meltzer reported last week at Wrestling Observer (subscription required) was about to happen ahead of Sunday night’s Wrestlemania XXVIII event in Miami. Though Lesnar didn’t appear publicly at Wrestlemania, rumors are abound that he will appear on Monday Night Raw, also in Miami, to announce his return.
“Brock is retired and can do WWE!,” White wrote in his post. “I have said in a million interviews HE CAN DO WWE. … The Rock is a friend who always supports the UFC and I supported his event tonight. As far as Brock goes, he has always been great with us and if he cut a deal with Vince for WWE I am happy for him.”
On Sunday afternoon, White posted on his Twitter account that he was supporting Dwayne “Rock” Johnson in his Wrestlemania main event against John Cena – and that he would be watching the show. Johnson is no stranger to UFC events, attending in person on occasion. White also has said in the past that he considers his UFC brand and the WWE to be two separate forms of entertainment and not truly competitors, perhaps except for pay-per-view dollars – though UFC and WWE major events don’t run opposite each other.
Lesnar won the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 91 in just his fourth professional MMA bout. He went on to defend it against Frank Mir at UFC 100 and Shane Carwin at UFC 116. But at UFC 121 in October 2010, he lost the title to Cain Velasquez. After a second surgery for diverticulitis, Lesnar returned to fight Alistair Overeem at UFC 141, with the winner promised a title shot against new champion Junior dos Santos. But Lesnar lost by first-round TKO. After the fight, he announced his retirement – and said that even had he won, he promised his family he would fight once more to defend the belt, then leave the sport.