Dana White: 'Brock Lesnar is not coming back'
Alistair Overeem stirred a hornet's nest on Saturday night following his win over Frank Mir at UFC 169 when he name dropped former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and said if he was coming back to MMA, he'd be waiting on him.
Overeem was the last fighter Lesnar faced in 2011 before he retired from competition and returned to professional wrestling with the WWE. Rumors have abounded lately about Lesnar potentially returning to the cage following some conversations with UFC president Dana White where he expressed regret for never actually fighting while healthy due to a continuous battle with diverticulitis throughout his career.
Overeem's mention of Lesnar only added fuel to the fire about the former champion coming back to the Octagon. Lesnar is currently under contract to WWE where he is expected to stay at least until 2015 when his latest deal expires.
White finally put a nail in the coffin where Lesnar is concerned when his name came up again on Saturday. Lesnar may have real regrets about the way he left the sport in 2011, but he has no plans of coming back and the UFC isn't pursuing that option either.
"Brock Lesnar is not coming back. Brock Lesnar is not fighting," White said at the UFC 169 post fight press conference. "I mean does he want to come back? I mean we've talked about him wanting to come back. He feels like he wasn't 100-percent while he was here and he feels like he sold himself a little short and all the stuff that I've told you guys before, but no he's not (coming back).
Alistair Overeem decided to call out a guy who is no longer in the UFC.
Hopefully, White's emphatic statement will finally close the door on Lesnar's rumored return to the UFC. Beyond Lesnar's deal with the WWE, which likely locks him up exclusively during his tenure with the company, the former UFC heavyweight king is also 36 years of age and will be 37 in just a few short months.
It's likely Lesnar's days in the UFC are over and done with for good. It's probably not the last time his name will be mentioned, however, no matter how many time White says he's not coming back.
