Dana White confirms Brock Lesnar is coming back to the UFC

Brock Lesnar’s current WWE contract is expected to wrap up after WrestleMania 34 this Sunday, which has once again created a torrent of questions surrounding his possible return to the UFC’s Octagon, where he once wore heavyweight gold.

On a Wednesday night episode of UFC Tonight, UFC President Dana White answered our Brock Lesnar questions with uncharacteristic straightforwardness.

“Yeah, Brock Lesnar’s coming back,” White told Daniel Cormier when asked about the WWE superstars return to the Octagon. “I don’t know when, but yes he is.”

The circumstances of Lesnar’s possible return to the cage, of course, are far from straightforward.

After his UFC 200 decision defeat of Mark Hunt, Lesnar failed a pair of USADA-administered drug tests, which caused the bout’s result to be overturned and ruled a no-contest. He was than issued a year-long suspension, but this suspension was paused when he “retired” from MMA to return to the pro wrestling ring.

Should Lesnar choose to lumber back to the cage, he’ll first have to serve the remaining six months of this USADA suspension, which means he won’t be eligible to compete again for some time.

Prior to his disappointing no-contest against Mark Hunt, Lesnar was away from the Octagon for almost five years. He lost his next two most recent bouts, succumbing to first-round strikes dealt by Alistair Overeem and Cain Velasquez. Lesnar’s last win occurred in July of 2010, when he defeated Shane Carwin with a second-round arm-triangle choke after nearly being finished in the first round of the fight.

White’s latest comments about Lesnar are in keeping with a recent statement made by Lesnar’s manager Paul Heyman.

“I don’t think it’s any secret that Brock is looking to get back into the octagon,” he said. “He is obviously eyeballing another fight in UFC. There’s no secret. He’s posing for pictures with Dana White wearing a UFC shirt in the UFC offices in Las Vegas. That’s not a negotiating tactic, Brock Lesnar wants to compete inside of the octagon. There’s no leveraging that; it’s a fact.”

If Brock Lesnar does return to the Octagon, who do you want to see him fight?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/4/2018.