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All the way back in 2004, Brock Lesnar left WWE with ties between the two sides severing over the years. In 2012, the unthinkable happened, as Lesnar made a huge return to the company which made him famous, and he has been with the promotion ever since, spending over a decade back in the professional wrestling business whilst continuing to strengthen his legacy. During his time away, Lesnar fought in the UFC and became the Heavyweight Champion. With this success, some may wonder as to why he made the call to quit MMA and make a return to the professional wrestling world in 2012.
Brock Lesnar Became The UFC Heavyweight Champion
After leaving WWE, Lesnar looked to have firmly made his name outside the business. Whilst he was recognised as being a former professional wrestler, he had firmly established his name in the MMA world. Lesnar’s journey began at the Dynamite!! USA event when he defeated Min-soo Kim, and it wasn’t long until he was signed to the UFC, becoming undoubtedly their largest ever draw due to his name value and the interest in seeing how he would fare in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.
Lesnar lost his first fight to Frank Mir but it earned him more fights anyway, and he quickly scored a win before challenging Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. In a truly shocking occurrence, Lesnar won the fight and became champion, conquering UFC immediately and proving himself to be a true specimen of a human being. He got redemption against Frank Mir and defended the belt twice before dropping it to Cain Velasquez. Disaster would then strike for Lesnar, whose health began getting in the way of his fighting career.
Brock Lesnar’s Health Issues Caused His UFC Career To End
Following his loss to Velasquez, Lesnar took time away from the Octagon. Prior to this fight, Lesnar was reportedly suffering from diverticulitis, which had been riddling his UFC career, and had to pull out of his fight against Junior Dos Santos at UFC 131 due to undergoing surgery. According to MMAWeekly, Dana White had explained that, “They removed about 12 inches of his colon, repaired it, he feels great. He said he’s a little sore, but the operation was a huge success.” A lot of damage had been done though, and this all came into play in his next fight.
Due to it being common knowledge of Lesnar’s health problems, his opponent Alaister Overeem would target his weakened midsection, which proved costly, and it led to Lesnar’s defeat. ESPN made note of Lesnar explaining that due to this fight and his health issues, it had all gotten too much, saying, “I’ve had a really difficult couple of years with my disease, and I’m going to officially say tonight is the last time.” And with that, Lesnar walked away. He did try and train for another fight, but realized overcoming his illness was too big of a task. This led him to his next steps of rejoining WWE.
WWE Offered Brock Lesnar A Better Schedule And Lots Of Money
In 2012, reports emerged of Lesnar’s imminent WWE comeback, though nothing was 100% confirmed. The night after WrestleMania 28 on Monday Night Raw, he confronted John Cena to a huge pop. They faced off in the ring and Lesnar laid him out with an F5, completing one of the most goosebump inducing returns of all time. There were a few reasons for this return, one of which being that the UFC was too demanding on his body at the time. In addition, WWE were offering a lot of money, which was a huge incentive. Working for WWE, he could work less time and earn more money, whereas he would have been in training camps around the clock for UFC. Lesnar has been one of WWE’s biggest earners since rejoining the promotion, which has been key to him re-signing time and time again over the last decade or so.
Lesnar did briefly return to the UFC whilst under WWE contract in 2016, though his win over Mark Hunt was overturned due to Lesnar testing positive for banned substances. Since then, Lesnar hasn’t had a fight, with his age not slowing down. Instead, he has reigned supreme in WWE, winning plenty of World Titles on this second run - four WWE Titles and three Universal Titles, in addition to a Royal Rumble, Money in the Bank, and breaking The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania. He looks to be enjoying his time in WWE, particularly in the last couple of years with him showcasing more personality. Lesnar certainly made the right call coming back to WWE.