Update: About an hour following Dana White’s remarks at the UFC 226 post-fight press conference, a source from USADA tells MMA Fighting that Lesnar “has started the process to get back in the USADA drug-testing pool.”
After making an impact by his arrival at UFC 226, and shove of new UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier, WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar is reported to be challenging Cormier for the title at UFC 230 this November at Madison Square Garden.
Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Blotter was the first to report the news. UFC President Dana White later confirmed at the post-fight press conference that Lesnar and Cormier is being worked on, but may not happen at UFC 230 exactly.
Brock Lesnar will fight the winner of tonight’s main event in November at Madison Square Garden for the UFC heavyweight championship, multiple sources confirm.
— Jeremy Botter (@jeremybotter) July 8, 2018
“He came here tonight, he was all fired up,” White said at the post-fight press conference. “We had this night, we have July 28, then we can start working on end-of-the-year stuff.”
Prior to the main event, Lesnar was shown arriving into the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, shaking hands with commentators Jon Anik and Joe Rogan and sitting next to UFC President Dana White. Following Cormier’s win over Stipe Miocic, Lesnar entered the Octagon, shoved the champion and the two exchanged words.
Lesnar went 5-3 in his first MMA stint, winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship by defeating Randy Couture at 91 and defending his championship twice before losing it to Cain Velasquez. A battle with diverticulitis shortened Lesnar’s MMA career.
Lesnar returned to the UFC on a one-off appearance at UFC 200 in July 2016, defeating Mark Hunt before failed drug tests overturned the win to a No Contest. USADA suspended Lesnar for one year. Lesnar completed six months of his suspension before announcing retirement from MMA once again in February 2017.
According to Sean Ross Sapp of Frightful, Lesnar may have been in the USADA testing pool but hidden. Under USADA rules, for certain purposes, a fighter in the system can be hidden from the public.
But White says, to his knowledge, the suspension has either not resumed or just resumed and the fight could take place whenever it is up.
“The process has started, they started it last week,” White said. “I don’t know where they are on the process. He should pop up on the board on Monday or Tuesday.”
Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting attempted to get a word with Lesnar about the matter but was ignored.
Had a source tell me that Lesnar will be on the UFC show tonight, has entered the USADA pool and is hidden. I guess we’ll find out tonight. I reached out to people within WWE and UFC for answers, but they’re both running shows, so I’ll not get word until after it happens anyway
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) July 8, 2018
As he was leaving the building, I asked Brock Lesnar if he was back in the USADA testing pool. No answer and continued walking.
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) July 8, 2018