UFC President Dana White has refuted claims that Brock Lesnar didn’t return to the UFC because of the new pay-per-view model with ESPN+ and his percentage cut from PPV orders.
Speaking to ESPN, as reported by MMAFighting.com, White said, “Brock Lesnar got a better deal is basically what happened for Brock.”
In a battle to secure the services of Brock Lesnar, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon did everything to keep the former WWE and Universal champion employed by WWE. Ultimately, Brock saw a better deal with WWE rather than UFC and decided to stay put.
Rumors were running rampant that Brock’s last match was going to be at WrestleMania 35. In fact, he dropped the title to Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman said on the broadcast before the match started that they were going to pack their bags and move to Las Vegas where Brock is “ultimately” appreciated.
But Lesnar, who had a fight against UFC Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier set, preferred to work for Vince McMahon instead. Brock is the highest-paid worker in WWE and the one who has the less dates on his deal.
He is “retired” from MMA which means USADA can no longer go knocking on his door for random drug tests. Lesnar was tested twice in 2019 by USADA and seven times in 2018 in a span of six months. He passed all tests required.
If Lesnar decides to put on his fighting gloves again, he will have to re-enter the USADA drug testing pool as required by the UFC and will have to undergo drug testing for several months before he can step foot back in the Octagon.
