Dana White Confirms Brock Lesnar Has Retired From UFC

Brock Lesnar will not be returning to the UFC.

Earlier today UFC President Dana White informed ESPN that the former heavyweight champion has turned down an offer to face Daniel Cormier in a super fight that has been brewing for nearly a full year.

Lesnar returned to the octagon in a surprise moment at the end of UFC 226 last July just moments after Cormier (22-1) had defeated Stipe Miocic (18-3) to become the new UFC Heavyweight Champion. The “Beast Incarante” rushed the cage after the main event, unleashing an expletive-fueled tirade against the entire modern heavyweight division.

At one point last year it was even reported that a fight between the two was a near certainty, with Lesnar re-entering the USADA drug testing pool and eying a return to MMA, rumored to take place in early 2019.

When that didn’t pan out, the expectation was that Lesnar would finish out his contract with WWE, drop the Universal Championship at WrestleMania, before focussing all of his energy on a fight camp for the bout with Cormier. Apparently that is no longer the case.

Dana White has now told ESPN that Lesnar “does not intend to fight again”, and is in fact retired from mixed martial arts. The company will now change directions, and the new plan is for Cormier to next defend his title in rematch against Stipe Miocic.

Of course, the question now becomes —  will Brock Lesnar sign another long-term contract with WWE? While unconfirmed, there have been reports that the Beast’s contract actually includes a match at the next Saudi Arabia show, which is rumored to take place in June.

This is an interesting situation, as Lesnar has infamously used WWE and UFC to play off each other for years in order to continually increase the value of his contract, teasing a return to the octagon every single time his deal with the sports entertainment empire is close to coming due.