Brock Lesnar's risky UFC return

Former UFC heavyweight champion and WWE megastar Brock Lesnar is returning to the Octagon at UFC 200 against Sydney-based knockout machine Mark Hunt.

The 38-year-old pro wrestler is taking a huge risk in July. His credibility in the cartoon world of wrestling is built on the premise that he’s a real-life smashing machine.

Lesnar puts all that one the line when he fights Hunt, the eighth-ranked UFC heavyweight title contender.

Not only is Hunt one of the best fighters in the weight class, but he is – one paper, at least – a stylistic kryptonite for the herculean heavyweight.

In Lesnar’s last two defeats against Alistair Overeem and Cain Velasquez – two men who don’t hit nearly as hard as the brick-fisted ‘Super Samoan’ – the WWE star was knocked out within minutes.

“When you’ve been hit by Mark Hunt and stayed up, nobody else worries you,” retired UFC heavyweight Soa Palelei told The Roar.

“He’s got heavy, heavy hands. I think a lot of people underestimate him, but as soon as they get hit, that’s it, they’re done.”

Lesnar could have hand-chosen any opponent to fight in his UFC return and it would bolster the pay-per-view profit margin.

And yet…

The UFC box office sensation chose a fighter who hits like a truck and could punch his lights out if he makes a single mistake.

Depending on your perspective, it’s either a gutsy or foolish decision by the muscle-bound heavyweight, but it’s courageous moves like this that have made Lesnar a can’t-miss athlete during his multi-sport career.

Lesnar wasn’t the leading candidate to win the NCAA Division I heavyweight title in 2000, either. He never won a high school wrestling title, placed second in the 1999 NCAA field, and Wes Hand – the man he eventually wrestled in the 2000 final – beat him 5-3 a month prior to the big tournament.

And yet…

Lesnar outlasted Hand in double overtime to win the NCAA title 3-2, becoming Minnesota’s first heavyweight wrestling champ since Verne Gagne over a half-century earlier.

The six-foot-four, 130 kilo wrestler was a freak athlete. His chest was 56 inches, and his biceps were 21. Truly, Lesnar was a physical force unlike any other before or since.

Despite his obvious physical attributes and credibility in the real world of wrestling, there was no guarantee that he would make a seamless transition into the WWE Universe.

And yet…

The corn-fed South Dakotan had a short-yet-eventful career in the WWE, skyrocketing to the top of the industry faster than anyone before him.

Lesnar was a money player for almost his entire tenure with the company. He held the promotion’s major championship and featured in some of the biggest storylines of the time.

In 2004, Lesnar passed on a $1 million-a-year guaranteed contract, instead choosing to quit the business that made him rich and famous.

In an odd move, Lesnar decided to leave the ‘fake’ sport of pro wrestling to pursue a career in the hard-hitting National Football league (NFL) because he anticipated it would be easier on his body.

Lesnar – who confessed to having three broken ribs, an injured knee, and an addiction to vodka and Vicodin after exiting the sports entertainment company – was a longshot to even get noticed by the NFL.

And yet…

Lesnar excelled at the NFL Combine and made the practice team for the Minnesota Vikings.

NFL insiders at the time agreed that Lesnar had potential, and could’ve played elite-level football, but he was not ready to join the Vikings.

Lesnar was offered a deal to play overseas in the NFL Europa league to polish his skills, but he passed.

By the time the future UFC champion announced that he would strap on a pair of fingerless mixed martial arts gloves to fight, offers flooded in from promotions from the United States and Japan.

Lesnar wasn’t a real fighter, though. MMA experts unanimously agreed Lesnar’s stay in the unforgiving sport would be short and painful.

And yet…

The humongous fighter debuted in 2007, mauling Olympic silver medal-winning judoka Min Soo Kim and joined the UFC as the highest paid 1-0 fighter in history the following year.

Lesnar debuted in the big leagues against Frank Mir, a multiple-time UFC titlist, who submitted the rampaging wrestler in 90 seconds.

Less than 18 months later, Mir versus Lesnar II headlined UFC 100. By then, the ‘fake’ wrestler was a feared wrecking machine, fresh off a one-sided beatdown on two-division champion and all-time great fighter Randy Couture.

Lesnar squashed Mir like a bug, finishing the fight in the second round. With 1.6 million units sold, that pay-per-view clash still stands as the most lucrative fight in company history.

Next month, 100 pay-per-views since that history-making evening, Lesnar plans to return to the Octagon after a near-five-year hiatus.

Lesnar shouldn’t win – he shouldn’t even stand a chance. Hunt should put the wrestler to sleep with one clean punch on the button.

And yet…