You don’t rise to the status of one of MMA’s most prized fighters, without attracting a few controversies along the way. Granted, the previous line may have been inspired from The Social Network but is absolutely true in the case of Brock Lesnar.
Regarded as one of the most accomplished athletes in wrestling history, the Beast Incarnate has tried his hand at many sports, with his WWE and MMA achievements regarded as his most notable. That being said, Lesnar has had quite a career in MMA, with his participation in UFC 100 and UFC 200 drawing in big bucks in the form of pay-per-views.
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However, with success came the controversies. Keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at five incidents you should know about in Brock Lesnar’s MMA career.
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Also read: Brock Lesnar’s MMA career – what exactly happened?
#1 The Doping Scandal
When it comes to the top five incidents you should know about in Brock Lesnar’s MMA career, the recent doping scandal that the Beast Incarnate got himself involved in is undoubtedly the most significant of all.
Also read: Brock Lesnar's UFC career record – the highs, the lows and the controversies
The scandal was made public following Lesnar’s victory over Mark Hunt in June, for which he walked away with a purse of $2.5 million at UFC 200. Shortly after the fight, Lesnar was informed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, that his out of competition test uncovered traces of the banned drug clomiphene, which is an oestrogen blocker.
An in-competition test in July once again showed traces of the substance, after which Lesnar was temporarily suspended. WWE chose to ignore the shocking revelations, but by the looks of things, Lesnar’s MMA career is all but over.
#2 The UFC 100 Incident
Another notable stain on Brock Lesnar’s MMA career has to be his infamous UFC 100 incident back in 2009. The shocker took place shortly after Lesnar’s decisive victory in his rematch against Frank Mir at UFC 100. Shortly after his astonishing win, the crowd began booing Lesnar, who responded by showing them the finger.
If that wasn’t enough, Lesnar went on to criticise the event’s pay-per-view sponsor, Bud Light, by stating that they “won’t pay him nothin’ and went on to promote rival beer Coors Light instead. However, Lesnar apologised for his actions at the post-match press conference and eventually ended up endorsing Bud Light, which cooled things down a bit.
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Controversies aside, Lesnar’s performance at UFC 100 was nothing short of spectacular and resulted in him winning the Sherdog Beatdown of the Year award.
#3 The first retirement
Shortly after his controversial loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141, Lesnar announced his first retirement from the MMA scene on December 30th, 2011, stating, "Tonight was the last time you'll see me in the octagon".
Lesnar made the decision to step down after his niggling problems with Diverticulitis, and eventually rejoined his former organisation WWE, who welcomed him back with open arms. The wrestler was absent from the MMA scene for five whole years, repeatedly squashing speculations of a potential return, only to have a change of heart and return to the MMA fold this year.
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#4 The health issues return
The year 2011 saw health issues plague Lesnar once again. Just before his fight with Junior dos Santos at UFC 131, Diverticulitis came back to haunt Lesnar again, which resulted in him going under the knife that June.
The extent of his condition was so severe that the wrestler had to have a 12-inch piece of his colon removed, which was confirmed by UFC president Dana White. His illness continued to dominate MMA headlines for weeks to come, with his status as MMA’s highest-paid star with earnings of $3.3 million the only piece of news big enough to rival his health status.
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#5 The Canada Incident
No stranger to health issues, Brock Lesnar created quite a stir back in 2009, when he took ill in Canada. In late 2009, just before his bout with Shane Carwin at UFC 106, Lesnar picked up an illness and initially headed to Canada to obtain treatment.
However, the recovery experience in Canada was less than pleasant for Lesnar, who complained of receiving ‘Third World treatment’ from a hospital in Manitoba.
Lesnar went on to further criticise Canada’s healthcare policies, going as far as to state that the superior treatment in the United States, literally saved his life as the equipment in the Canadian hospital wasn’t even working, due to which they misdiagnosed his condition.
It was later revealed that Lesnar was suffering from a serious combination of mononucleosis and diverticulitis, which could have proven fatal if not for the surgery he received just in the nick of time.
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