Brock Lesnar's UFC comeback has been deemed to be more possible now that the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is reported to experiencing a plunge in their earnings. However, the former heavyweight champ's ability to draw numbers for MMA if he does make an Octagon comeback has also been put into question.
Various reports about Brock Lesnar's UFC comeback have been floating around for the past few weeks. Most recently, company president Dana White voiced out his opinion regarding the matter. The brash spokesperson of the UFC could not be more thrilled.
"I have a great relationship with Brock, we talk all the time," White said during the October 22nd edition of The Download. "I don't know, we'll see. If he wants to fight, he knows my number. It's pretty amazing what he did and accomplished here while having diverticulitis. It would be interesting to see a 100 percent healthy Brock Lesnar compete."
Brock Lesnar's UFC comeback has been halted by his bouts with diverticulitis and a relatively heftier offer from the WWE, which served as a springboard to his combat sports career.
But in a recent report by Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting, the possibility of seeing the former heavyweight champion back in the cage may be more likely this time around, given the current financial state of the WWE.
"The WWE in 2015 is in a very different place than it was in during 2011, when Lesnar was offered a reported $5 million per year to return on a limited schedule. That company turned a $24 million profit in 2011," Meltzer wrote. "Today's company, almost entirely due to the gamble of starting its own network, which has nearly killed its pay-per-view business, as well as cut down on its own web site income significantly, is, based on current projections, looking at $40 million in losses this year."
While he is still considered as a huge crowd draw among today's MMA fans, the Brock Lesnar who made his UFC debut in 2008 is different from the Brock Lesnar of today, given aging and skill deterioration factors at play. But in Meltzer's opinion, making a return to the UFC is the more economic option.
"Would he be worth more money to UFC than WWE in April of next year? Short-term, it's almost a sure thing," Meltzer wrote. "And that's why the plight of WWE's business now makes it far more of an economic reality that Lesnar could return."
