The Beast is back.
Now we get to wonder what exactly that means.
Brock Lesnar's return at UFC 200, as best we know, was designed as a one-off special attraction. Who can really believe that, though? Who can accept that Lesnar waltzed back into the Octagon after nearly five years away, beat a top-10 heavyweight in Mark Hunt and will never again strap on a pair of 4XL gloves? Knowing his competitive drive, can that be enough?
It's a hard scenario to accept, and thankfully, we don't have to.
The one thing we learn from watching MMA is that nothing is guaranteed. Promoters change their minds, fighters age quickly, locks lose to ego.
Nothing is guaranteed, meaning everything is negotiable now after Lesnar put his stamp on the landmark event by beating up Hunt in a unanimous decision by a trio of 29-27 scores.
"One day at a time," Lesnar told UFC commentator Joe Rogan after the fight when asked what the future holds for him.
I ain't buying it.
If he wasn't able to put the sport in his rearview mirror after all that time away, after a brutal illness and a second run in the WWE, how can he do it now after feeling his body respond to the challenge?
I would be shocked if this was how it ended. If he really felt his body betrayed him in his first UFC run, he's got to want to see how far a healthy one can take him.
For now, we only know one thing for sure: Lesnar is scheduled to return to professional wrestling with an appearance at WWE's SummerSlam in August. That's a certainty.
"Let's get one thing clear," Lesnar said in his post-fight press conference. "Brock Lesnar does what Brock Lesnar wants to do."
Don't we know it. And that's exactly why his MMA future is an open-ended question.
For Lesnar, that somehow makes perfect sense.
He has basically been an athletic mercenary for most of his adult life, going from wrestling to football to MMA to wrestling to MMA again.
Lesnar didn't make this comeback for the money. By all accounts, he's been smart with his cash and has never been big on material things. So if he felt a need to return solely to answer some abstract question, you have to wonder how he can resist answering a more concrete one, which is, just how far can he go now?
He even admitted as such.
"I believe any man could do whatever he wants when he puts his mind to it," he said. "I've been out of the game five years, trained for six weeks and put a beating on Mark Hunt. I think anything's possible, ain't it?"
It's not a long climb from Hunt to the top of the division. Only seven fighters stand between him and current champion Stipe Miocic.
During his first foray into MMA, Lesnar was pretty clear in saying that he felt more comfortable in the competition of professional sports than the performance of professional entertainment. If he still feels that way, it could put him in a situation where he has to work out some kind of deal with WWE chairman and chief executive officer Vince McMahon. And if the pay-per-view does big numbers (hint: it will), UFC President Dana White will be by his side to negotiate it.
Because Lesnar prefers to conduct his business in secrecy, we may not know any outcome until it is decided.
This latest return announcement came as a bombshell, a thunderbolt from the sky with no forewarning. It had been just over a year ago when the former UFC champion announced on ESPN that he had re-signed with WWE, and "closed the door" on a return to fighting.
Considering his age—he will turn 39 years old on July 12—it seemed that we could take him at his word.
But realizing it was now or never for one more chance, Lesnar had a change of heart and quietly negotiated a return that required permission from the WWE.
Fully healed from the diverticulitis that compromised his health in the midst of his UFC run, the question regarding Lesnar was whether his time on the shelf and age combined into an insurmountable issue.
If he had one thing going for him, it was that, generally, heavyweights peak later than other divisions. The UFC, for instance, doesn't have a single top-10 heavyweight under 30 years old, and Lesnar's opponent, Hunt, is 42.
The intrigue of the matchup came in the style clash between them. While Lesnar is a lifelong wrestler, Hunt is one of the most crushing punchers MMA has ever seen, the king of the one-punch knockouts.
Lesnar is asked if he'll fight again: "Let's get one thing clear: Brock Lesnar does what Brock Lesnar wants to do."
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) July 10, 2016
But Lesnar looked surprisingly comfortable in the standup, spending significant time on his feet with the terrifying Hunt and holding his own.
The fight was even after two rounds, but Lesnar showed both perseverance and skill in closing out the bout with a dominant third. Although he looked tired, he got in deep on Hunt's legs and took him down, keeping him there for the remainder of the round and feeding Hunt dozens of shots. According to FightMetric, Lesnar landed 103 strikes in the third. In the end, it was only Hunt's legendary chin and toughness that held off a TKO result.
Any fighter will tell you that winning is addictive. To stand in the cage by yourself, succeed and bask in the adulation of the crowd is a feeling that is not replicable in any pursuit. That was Lesnar at UFC 200.
"I had a hell of a time," he said, "but I don't know what I'm going to do."
I don't know about that. His words didn't tell the story here; everything else did. The entertainer was shelved and the athlete was out. For a lifetime, that's what he's been and what he's wanted to be. And now we're supposed to believe that just when he gets back here, he's had enough? I ain't buying it. The Beast is back, and I think he's staying awhile.
