Brock Lesnar had an excellent UFC 200. He got to scratch his competitive itch, prove to himself that he still had what it takes to be a top-10 heavyweight in the UFC, and shut the up the haters who questioned his ability to take a punch. The two-time NCAA wrestler used his bread and butter to take Mark Hunt down repeatedly, dragging the large Samoan down and hauling him around the canvas as if he were livestock on his farm. While he didn’t get a finish, he dominated two of three rounds to the point where he took the decision 29-27, winning one round 10-8.
Afterwards, Brock was jovial during his own post-event press conference, and while he didn’t confirm that he would return to the cage, he certainly wasn’t talking like someone who was one and done.
“Let’s get one thing clear: Brock Lesnar does what Brock Lesnar wants to do,” he said when asked if he’d speak with WWE owner Vince McMahon about another UFC fight. “My future is already laid out for the next month, I’m doing SummerSlam against Randy Orton. Once the dust settles there, I dunno what I’m going to do.
“I had a hell of a time tonight and I enjoyed myself,” Lesnar continued. “We’ll see what happens. It’s really way too soon, guys. I have no idea.”
As for how he felt he did against Hunt, Lesnar was happy with his performance considering he only got a six-week training camp. “I wasn’t rocked, I don’t know if they were his best shots or not. I felt them. The mystery’s gone, I guess I can take a shot,” he said.
“It was a wrestler versus a power hitter, he never knocked the f**k out of me and here I am. So I’m happy.”
WHAT A SLAM by @BrockLesnar! #UFC200 https://t.co/E0Yhej0yli
— UFC (@ufc) July 10, 2016
“My prior training camps five years ago were pretty depressing camps,” Lesnar said. “I would train for a couple days then take five days off, train for three days and take a week off. I had twelve inches of my colon removed, jumped back in the octagon three months later. I mean who does that s**t, come on.
“So I’ve been gone five years, I step into the octagon tonight with a guy ranked number eight in the world, you can write what you wanna write but I think I’m the toughest sonuva bitch and I’m in the top ten, it puts me right in the game,” Lesnar continued. “Granted, I got some work to do, but don’t we all? And if I want to make that decision and keep fighting, then I will.”
Brock also had some nice things to say about fellow heavyweight Cain Velasquez’s win earlier in the night against Travis Browne. He even expressed some interest in a rematch against the man who took the belt off of him all the way back at UFC 121.
“There ain’t a guy, I believe, in the UFC heavyweight division that I can’t take down,” Lesnar said. “I’ve taken every single guy down that I’ve ever fought against, including Cain Velasquez. I didn’t keep him on the ground but I did take him down. Shane Carwin, I took him down. And we’re talking about five years ago, people. I’m a 39-year-old man, and I’m pretty proud of myself. It’s been a long time. Mark knocked the dust off me and away we went. I haven’t had that much fun in a long time.”
“I believe any man can do whatever he wants if he puts his mind to it,” Lesnar said when asked if he thought he could take the UFC heavyweight championship again. “I was out of this game for five years and I stepped back into the cage and trained for six weeks and I think I put a good beating on Mark Hunt tonight. I think anything is possible, ain’t it?”
There’s a lot of possibilities in Lesnar’s potential full-time return to UFC, but the big man refused to commit to anything. Read what you will into all his answers, though, and they were overwhelmingly positive regarding his return to the company.
“I’m pretty excited,” he said with a big smile. “My body’s feeling pretty good…excluding my eye. I dunno, we’ll see what happens. Never says never. I took five years off, and I’m approaching the big 4 – 0, so we’ll be realistic about it.”
