Brock Lesnar was initially negotiating for fight at UFC 205

In the co-main event of UFC 200, former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will make his highly anticipated UFC return against Mark Hunt after nearly 5 years away from the Octagon.

The UFC announced Lesnar’s return during the broadcast of UFC 199, just over a month before his scheduled fight on July 9th at UFC 200. With the fight being on short-notice, Lesnar was exempt from the first 3 rounds of USADA random drug testing.

During the UFC 200 media conference call, Lesnar explained that he actually was planning on returning at UFC 205.

“I wasn’t even sure if it was going to happen. But I’ve been training four or five weeks, and before my call to Dana [White], I wasn’t even sure this thing was going to happen.”

“We had talked and maybe thought we could put something together by November for New York (UFC 205).”

“Hell, I’ll fight whenever the money’s right, and we took it to the 11th hour, and that’s where we’re at,” Lesnar said. “It was short notice for me and for him, so we’ll see what happens on the 9th.”