WWE officials have agreed to allow Brock Lesnar to return to the Octagon to fight Mark Hunt at UFC 200, but that does not mean they are pleased about it.
In a recent interview with Lara O’Reilly of Business Insider, WWE chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon, Vince’s daughter, was asked about Lesnar’s upcoming MMA fight. She referred to it as a “special case” and made it clear that the big wigs at the WWE are not thrilled about it.
“In Brock Lesnar’s case it was really a special case that we are allowing him to do this fight,” McMahon said. “But like you said it’s not really a cross-promotional opportunity, but we are allowing him to participate in that fight.
“We are not supporting the fight necessarily but, again, it’s not a competitor to us and the more that our superstars, that’s how we refer to our talent, the more they do outside of WWE, the more awareness it generates and the broader the audience can be that is then brought back into our properties. So we recognize the value of that.”
Shortly after the announcement was made that Lesnar was returning for UFC 200, we gave you some insight explaining how Brock may have worked a UFC option into his latest WWE contract. Since UFC 200 is not a co-promotion for the UFC and WWE, it seems even more likely that Lesnar has that option. Otherwise, the McMahons probably would not have allowed him to risk his health.
If Lesnar does have a UFC option in his contract, you have to wonder if it’s only for one fight. It would make sense for that one fight to be at UFC 200.
