It was as if a major pro wrestling storyline came to an end on Tuesday when Brock Lesnar formally announced that he is finished with mixed martial arts. While promoting this weekend’s Wrestlemania event on ESPN, Lesnar announced that he was re-signing with World Wrestling Entertainment after being offered a very lucrative deal. After nearly a year of back and forth conversations, experts making their opinions known, and mixed martial arts fans acting like they don’t care, the discussion about Lesnar returning to MMA can finally be brought to an end. All things considered, this decision will end up being the best thing for all parties involved.
First there is Lesnar. The former UFC Heavyweight Champion compiled a meager 4-3 record in the Octagon. Although he faced some of the best competitors that were available at the time, he struggled in multiple respects. Now, at 37 years of age, he wouldn’t have much more to offer the division. During the ESPN interview, he made mention of his mental edge being off:
“For the last two months I’ve been training, I’ve been training to get back in the Octagon,” Lesnar said. “I felt physically great, but something lacked mentally, and that’s not good.”
UFC President Dana White echoed those sentiments. “This is a sport in which you have to be all in,” said White when asked for his reaction to the news. “Brock had a good stint here, he did some amazing things and it was fun to have him.”
Looking at today’s heavyweight division, it would be hard to see Lesnar make the top ten right now. His best bet would perhaps be against Andrei Arlovski, but with the former champion’s accurate boxing, that would still be a tough bet to take. For the pay that Lesnar would command, it would be a difficult proposition for the UFC to place him into anything but PPV main events against opponents in the top tier of the division. However, Lesnar would likely not be in a position to win against the heavyweight division’s elite. For the sake of his personal legacy, it was best for him to decide to stay away from competition.
However, in professional wrestling Brock Lesnar seems to have found his niche. Indeed, he is headlining its signature event this weekend.Although in many respects this vocation can take a greater toll on the body than MMA does, pro wrestling performers can compete deep into their forties, as well as alter their schedules and wrestling styles to preserve their health. MMA is a shark tank, even at the thinner ranks of heavyweight, and the costs of losing a step are dire. WWE has accommodated wrestlers who have lost a step for years, and there’s no reason to think the promotion would fail to do so with Lesnar. WWE definitely benefits from Lesnar remaining within its ranks.
Thirdly, the UFC stands to benefit — in the long term, at least — from Lesnar calling it quits. Lesnar is one of the best PPV draws in the sport’s young history, with three of the five events headlined by Lesnar — UFC 91, UFC 100, and UFC 116 — garnering more than one million PPV buys. The current crop of champions on the UFC roster do not have the star power to draw anything near those numbers. However, Lesnar is not a long term solution for the reasons outlined above. Since the UFC will not be able to lean on Lesnar’s star power, the organization will have to seize the moment, and explore ways to build up the star power of its existing talent roster, and find a new group of faces to carry the promotion. Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, and T.J. Dillashaw are among those who stand to gain the most from Lesnar staying in pro wrestling, as they will now have the room to grow into the star potential they have shown, without being overshadowed by Lesnar’s return, and all the attention and publicity that would garner.
Finally, Lesnar’s announcement means that this story can be put to rest. Heavyweight fighters can stop calling Lesnar out, and the MMA media will have to turn towards other stories. Lesnar’s announcement a few nights before WrestleMania brought to an end a MMA career that was great for the sport, but his return was not in his best interest, nor the best interests of the UFC.
