Thread: Why Now is the Perfect Time for Brock Lesnar to Come Back to the UFC

By Del Pearson January 17, 2014 10:50 AM



Replenishing the UFC's Star Power
Much has been made in recent weeks about the tough road ahead for the UFC in the near future as it has to at least temporarily replace Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva as two of the main faces of the promotion. While there are many fighters like Johny Hendricks and Anthony Pettis that seem close to making the leap to join Jon Jones and Ronda Rousey as major draws, the fact remains that they are still a little ways off from sure pay per view bets. Who better to help bridge the gap in this respect than Lesnar?

When he was actively fighting in the UFC, Lesnar was one of the biggest draws in the promotion's history. As heavyweight champion in 2010, Lesnar generated two of the biggest pay per view buy rates in UFC history, leading to over two million buys across two title defenses. It is easy to see how pairing an exciting fighter like Hendricks, Pettis or another rising star with Lesnar on an event could help catapult someone to becoming the next great UFC draw.

New Heavyweight Contenders Needed
As has often been the case throughout the history of the UFC, the upper ranks of the heavyweight division are currently thin. If heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is able to defeat the winner of Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne, the division will have essentially been cleared out of immediately viable contenders. That is why it is the perfect time for Lesnar to return and be moved into a title rematch in short order.

Although Lesnar was soundly defeated by Velasquez and Alistair Overeem in his final two UFC fights, his return towards the top of the division can be sold in part because of mitigating circumstances in each of those fights. When Lesnar lost his title against Velasquez, he may have still been feeling the after effects of his bouts with diverticulitis. At the same time, just three months after defeating Lesnar, Overeem failed a drug test due to heightened testosterone. With these possible explanations for Lesnar's defeats and his name recognition, the UFC would have no trouble selling him as a worthy title contender after at most just one tune-up bout.

Dream Fight
Notwithstanding the fact that the UFC could easily sell Lesnar as a worthy contender to the mainstream sports fan, it is likely that many die-hard MMA fans would be unhappy due to the way Velasquez handled Lesnar in their first fight and the general dislike for Lesnar's attitude. However, even if the UFC does not want to immediately thrust Lesnar a top contender fight, there is another route it could go that would surely result in a huge money-making fight and one of the most memorable moments in MMA history: a fight with Fedor Emelianenko.

To be sure, it could be argued that no one has given Dana White more issues when it comes to contract negotiations than Fedor, so him agreeing to fight Lesnar is anything but a certainty. That being said, whatever time there may be left on the clock for Fedor's chances to fight again is quickly running out. Because he is without any doubt the greatest fighter in MMA history never to step foot in the octagon (if not the greatest period), perhaps a chance against Lesnar would be enough for Fedor to finally agree to enter the octagon. Such a fight would Fedor's legendary skill against Lesnar's scary athleticism. While it may not be the same fight now as it would have been four years ago, the fact remains that it would be extremely entertaining and allow fans to finally see how Fedor would fare in the octagon against the former head of the UFC division. At this stage in Fedor's career he would probably be more likely to fight a big draw like Lesnar who has also been out of the game than he would an unbeatable star like Velasquez.

While all of this sounds great, the fact remains that Lesnar remains under contract with the WWE, reportedly until 2015. That being said, desperate times may call for desperate measures, and now is the perfect time for Dana White to make a move to do what he has to do to bring Lesnar back into the UFC as soon as possible.