MMA Fighting reports that WWE Superstar and UFC fighter Brock Lesnar notified UFC and informed the MMA company that he will be retiring from competition in the Octagon. Lesnar has made no formal announcements of his retirement, but a UFC spokesperson confirmed that his retirement is legitimate.
USADA spokesperson Ryan Madden stated that Lesnar was removed from the USADA drug testing pool; signifying he is no longer officially on the UFC roster. Last week, it was also reported that Lesnar was removed from the UFC’s unofficial online roster.
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Lesnar retired from MMA in 2011 following his fight with Alistair Overeem at UFC 141. Lesnar’s retirement was prompted by his battle with diverticulitis which led to his eventual return to the WWE in 2012. In 2015, he was debating whether he should stay with the WWE or return to the UFC, but decided to re-sign with the WWE and remain a professional wrestler.
In June 2016, news broke out that Lesnar would be coming out of retirement for UFC 200 on July 9, 2016. Lesnar would then go on to defeat Mark Hunt via unanimous decision after gaining the advantage in 1st and 3rd rounds of their bout.
After their fight, the results of the pre-fight drug test for Lesnar revealed he had tested positive for a banned substance which led to the result of his fight with Hunt being overturned and ruled a No Contest coupled with a one-year suspension and $250,000 fine from the Nevada Athletic Commission. The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) would issue Lesnar a one-year sanction following his failed drug test and would issue the following press release regarding the requirements for a suspended fighter to return to the Octagon.
“Pursuant to the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, all UFC athletes serving a period of ineligibility for an anti-doping policy violation are required to remain in the USADA registered testing pool and make themselves available for testing in order to receive credit for time served under his or her sanction. Furthermore, if an athlete retires during his or her period of ineligibility, the athlete’s sanction will be tolled until such time the athlete notifies USADA of his or her return from retirement and once again makes him or herself available for no-advance-notice, out-of-competition testing.”
Many people have been speculating what Lesnar’s future would be in the UFC since he was suspended by them last year. While some assumed he would distance himself from MMA, there was still a possibility that Lesnar could return to the Octagon once his suspension ended until now.
Lesnar retires from MMA with a record of 5 wins and 3 losses and 1 overturned victory after 5 years of active competition.
Now that Lesnar’s UFC career is officially done, fans of The Beast Incarnate will have to tune into Monday Night Raw and pay-per-views on the WWE Network in order to see one of the biggest draws in the history of combat sports.
His next wrestling match will be against WCW Legend Bill Goldberg and will take place at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida on April 2nd, 2017 at WrestleMania 33.
