LOS ANGELES — Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar ruled out a return to mixed martial arts on Tuesday, ending three years of speculation about the biggest pay-per-view star in the sport’s history.
Lesnar announced he had re-signed with the WWE in an interview on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”
Moments after his announcement, Lesnar told The Associated Press he was in training for a UFC return as recently as last week, though he had developed conflicted feelings about it over the previous month.
They finally decided to stick with specialized wrestling only in the past 2 days, signing his new three-year deal with the WWE about Monday night when the campaign increased its financial present.
“The fighter in me wants to continue, but at this stage in my life, it ain’t just about me anymore,” Lesnar told The AP. “You put your pride to the side. You hug your wife and your kids. I’m a 37-year-old man, and some days I feel like I’m 80, just with all the things I’ve experienced, all the things I’ve done. I feel fortunate about it. It’s like, what else can I do? Why go backward?”
Up to two years after Lesnar first started out working on an MMA return, he decided his long health was more important when compared with his hunger to return to cut-throat sports.
The UFC did not allow Lesnar to shut typically the octagon door easily: Lesnar said he turned down an offer worth “10 times” precisely what he was making earlier in the MMA career.
UFC Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta even attempted to increase the temptation when Lesnar phoned Fertitta and UFC President Dana White to tell them his decision while driving into the parking garage at ESPN’s downtown Los Angeles studios.
Though the UFC doesn’t disclose the financial results of its pay-per-view shows, White has said Lesnar is the biggest PPV draw in MMA history.
“Lorenzo said to me, ‘Can we sharpen our pencil? Can we double it’“ Lesnar said. “I said, ‘It’s not about that. I’m calling you to tell you where my heart is, and it’s not about the money.’
“And then in the back of my mind, I’m thinking, ‘Well, yeah, it is about the money, but I don’t have to beat myself up for it.’ To prepare for another MMA fight, we’re talking 16, 18 weeks of pure hell, and then the cage door shuts and it’s on.”
Lesnar lost his title seat belt to Cain Velasquez throughout October 2010, and had key surgery several months later to take out a 12-inch section of the colon damaged by diverticulitis. He hasn’t fought from the UFC since December right before christmas, when he lost to Alistair Overeem.
Persistent health problems adjacent his diverticulitis forced typically the 6-foot-3 Lesnar to take the latest perspective on his athletic invulnerability. The hulking NCAA safe bet wrestler who nearly built the Minnesota Vikings’ roster out of his first FOOTBALL training camp despite zero real football experience was required to re-evaluate his own mortality along with ability.
“When you’re sick for two or three years and you don’t know what’s going on, all of a sudden I went from the baddest man on the planet, to vulnerable,” Lesnar said. “It’s reality. My whole life I’ve been this superhuman freak that just kills people, a savage beast. I wasn’t that guy anymore. … Of course my confidence was totally jaded on my last three fights. Whose wouldn’t be? Is Anderson Silva the same guy he was (after breaking his leg)?
“I’ve been a barbarian my whole life. I’m just a smarter barbarian now. Evolution, you know?”
But Lesnar still gathered his fight camp at his home in Minnesota in recent months to prepare for a big-money UFC return. He said his training has been going splendidly, with his coaches “absolutely amazed” by his progress.
Still doubt kept clawing with Lesnar’s mind. He had some sort of sleepless night a month in the past, when he began talking audibly to himself about a go back. He booked his own priced to Los Angeles last month to go to the UFC 184 credit highlighted by Ronda Rousey’s latest dramatic victory, in hopes the energy and atmosphere of any big-time title fight would likely rekindle his fire.
“I tried to picture myself coming down to the cage, and it was like a bad dream,” Lesnar said. “It just wasn’t right. It didn’t feel right.”
Lesnar realizes his athletic old age is cushioned by the busy schedule with the WWE, and still gets a way of measuring competitive thrill from expert wrestling’s scripted results. They also will have more time to expend with his wife and a few children, and Lesnar would seem confident he can thrive with out MMA.
“I’m riding the caboose of my sports career,” Lesnar said, waving his hand in the air. “I just barely caught this thing. I’ll see you the next time.”
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