Brock Lesnar Rumor

[Xero]

Yeah, that wouldn't happen. Once Brock goes to WWE for any type of match, he'll be done with UFC for good, whether it's his doing or Dana White's.

[Mr. C]

Dana White pays guys who bring in numbers. Lesnar is the biggest money generator in the sport.

[Fox]

Originally Posted by Xero Yeah, that wouldn't happen. Once Brock goes to WWE for any type of match, he'll be done with UFC for good, whether it's his doing or Dana White's.

For the sake of argument, this may not be true. Tito Ortiz did a stint in TNA in 2005 and returned to UFC as a fighter. He did only referee matches in TNA, so it's not exactly the same thing as Brock wrestling again for WWE, but it's the point of a fighter going to work for a pro wrestling organization and then going back to UFC.

Lesnar vs Taker would be huge for everyone involved. WWE would profit, Lesnar would definitely profit, and Taker needs a massive follow up to his last 3 WM matches that no one on the current roster can provide (except maybe John Cena, and he's already booked for Mania against Rock). And however the finish goes, it's good for business. Undertaker goes out on top 20-0 after beating HBK twice, Triple H and then Brock Lesnar, OR, Undertaker goes out at 19-1 after getting beaten by one of the most dominating and legitimately dangerous men to ever step foot in a WWE ring.

Dana White knows that the reason Lesnar is such a massive commodity in the UFC is because of the name he made for himself in the WWE, and because the WWE and UFC have a cross threaded fan base. I think he would consider letting Lesnar go wrestle one more match because it would only increase Lesnar's visibility not only to the media as a whole, but to the wrestling/fighting fanbase, and would make him that much larger of a star when he came back to fight for UFC.

[Next Big Thing]

Originally Posted by Fox For the sake of argument, this may not be true. Tito Ortiz did a stint in TNA in 2005 and returned to UFC as a fighter. He did only referee matches in TNA, so it's not exactly the same thing as Brock wrestling again for WWE, but it's the point of a fighter going to work for a pro wrestling organization and then going back to UFC. Lesnar vs Taker would be huge for everyone involved. WWE would profit, Lesnar would definitely profit, and Taker needs a massive follow up to his last 3 WM matches that no one on the current roster can provide (except maybe John Cena, and he's already booked for Mania against Rock). And however the finish goes, it's good for business. Undertaker goes out on top 20-0 after beating HBK twice, Triple H and then Brock Lesnar, OR, Undertaker goes out at 19-1 after getting beaten by one of the most dominating and legitimately dangerous men to ever step foot in a WWE ring. Dana White knows that the reason Lesnar is such a massive commodity in the UFC is because of the name he made for himself in the WWE, and because the WWE and UFC have a cross threaded fan base. I think he would consider letting Lesnar go wrestle one more match because it would only increase Lesnar's visibility not only to the media as a whole, but to the wrestling/fighting fanbase, and would make him that much larger of a star when he came back to fight for UFC.

Tito Ortiz was in TNA because he and Dana had had a falling out at that point. Brock Lesnar consistently brings in over a million pay per view buys when he fights. Those are Wrestlemania buyrates. He broke Tyson's record for PPV buys. His visibility is fine as is and him going back to the WWE and losing does nothing for the UFC and there's no way Vince would let Brock come back for one night only, beat one of the greatest performers in WWE history and then leave again.

[Mr. C]

Originally Posted by Next Big Thing Tito Ortiz was in TNA because he and Dana had had a falling out at that point. Brock Lesnar consistently brings in over a million pay per view buys when he fights. Those are Wrestlemania buyrates. He broke Tyson's record for PPV buys.

Exactly why Dana would re-sign Lesnar if he wished to return to UFC after WrestleMania. As I stated above, he's the biggest money generator in the sport.

His visibility is fine as is and him going back to the WWE and losing does nothing for the UFC and there's no way Vince would let Brock come back for one night only, beat one of the greatest performers in WWE history and then leave again.

Of course Vince wouldn't let Lesnar beat Undertaker and then leave, but his payday would be enough for him to come back and lose, especially at WrestleMania in a match with Undertaker.

[Next Big Thing]

Originally Posted by Mr. C Exactly why Dana would re-sign Lesnar if he wished to return to UFC after WrestleMania. As I stated above, he's the biggest money generator in the sport.

That's all fine and good in fantasy, reality is if Brock Lesnar beats Alistair Overeem in December he won't be going to the Royal Rumble to hype a Wrestlemania match with the Undertaker. Hell, Lesnar's next fight might even be the same month as Wrestlemania.

Again, the idea works for wrestling fans and the WWE, but for Dana White and the UFC it does nothing. The only way Brock goes back to wrestle for the WWE is if he retires from MMA or loses badly to Overeem and gets cut.

Originally Posted by Mr. C Of course Vince wouldn't let Lesnar beat Undertaker and then leave, but his payday would be enough for him to come back and lose, especially at WrestleMania in a match with Undertaker.

I think that's the other thing. Dana may know it's fake, but I think he'd still have a problem with his biggest star in "for real" fighting losing to a 50 year old man in "fake fighting." The headlines in the MMA world and on sites like ESPN would be a joke after that.

[Mr. C]

Originally Posted by Next Big Thing That's all fine and good in fantasy, reality is if Brock Lesnar beats Alistair Overeem in December he won't be going to the Royal Rumble to hype a Wrestlemania match with the Undertaker. Hell, Lesnar's next fight might even be the same month as Wrestlemania. Again, the idea works for wrestling fans and the WWE, but for Dana White and the UFC it does nothing. The only way Brock goes back to wrestle for the WWE is if he retires from MMA or loses badly to Overeem and gets cut.

Agree 100%. That fight is a #1 contender's bout for the Heavyweight title. If Lesnar wins, he's likely re-signing so he can fight Velasquez/Dos Santos for the title. However, if he loses, most likely he'll leave the UFC for WrestleMania.

I think that's the other thing. Dana may know it's fake, but I think he'd still have a problem with his biggest star in "for real" fighting losing to a 50 year old man in "fake fighting." The headlines in the MMA world and on sites like ESPN would be a joke after that.

Didn't stop him from signing him the first time. I mean, the guy was 1-0 and widely known at the time as "the wrestler." What did Dana do next? Put him in the main event of a pay-per-view with Frank Mir. As far as losing in a WWE ring, everyone knows that a loss to Undertaker is scripted and wouldn't hurt Lesnar. Again, wrestling for two years didn't hurt him.

[Next Big Thing]

Originally Posted by Mr. C Didn't stop him from signing him the first time. I mean, the guy was 1-0 and widely known at the time as "the wrestler." What did Dana do next? Put him in the main event of a pay-per-view with Frank Mir. As far as losing in a WWE ring, everyone knows that a loss to Undertaker is scripted and wouldn't hurt Lesnar. Again, wrestling for two years didn't hurt him.

Wasn't the main event, but that's just minor.

Also, Brock Lesnar wasn't signed solely because he was a former WWE wrestler. He was signed because he was a dominant NCAA wrestling champion and wrestling is arguably the best base to have when transitioning into MMA. He'd also gained some credibility as a "real athlete" from his tryout for the Vikings. Hell, it had been 3 years since he wrestled for the WWE after only spending 2 years at the forefront. If being a former WWE champion or having some kind of status as a wrestling great was all it took or had such great appeal, Lashley and Batista would be in the UFC. Jim Ross was pretty much begging for a job doing UFC commentary and got ignored.

The main stream media that covers MMA views pro wrestling as a joke. ESPN and other sports publications didn't give a damn about Brock Lesnar until he moved away from pro wrestling and tried out for the Vikings/joined the UFC. Dana doesn't want his guys getting mixed up with that.

More than anything else, it's about perception. Go find the thread with the idiots who got a hard on after the Lesnar/Undertaker "confrontation" and said dumb shit like "Brock is scared of Taker" or that "Taker would beat Brock up in real life." The fact that those people were too stupid or too big of marks to understand why Brock wouldn't respond to Taker after getting his brain scrambled and losing his title or that a 6'4 NCAA wrestler with adequate boxing and jiu jitsu training would probably put an injury riddled 46 year old pro wrestler in a coma shows that some people aren't capable of distinguishing between Brock losing in the UFC and Brock losing in the WWE. If the UFC builds Brock up as the "Baddest Man on the Planet" why would they want him to go to the WWE and get beaten by the Undertaker?

When you have the Rock and Undertaker saying shit like if they could go back and do it all over again they would have done MMA, they're saying that stuff in reaction to the perception that MMA fighters are tougher/more bad ass than professional wrestlers and want to be perceived as a part of that mold. Why do you think the Undertaker adopted a jiu jitsu submission technique? Why do you think they talk up Daniel Bryan training in MMA? You don't think the WWE would try to use something like Brock losing as a way to hype their guys up again? Especially when there is some resentment towards MMA by some guys like HHH and Jericho again due to the perception that pro wrestling is inferior. It's not worth the headache to Dana.