Brock Lesnar Reportedly Has New WWE Deal, Raising Questions About “DC” Fight

The expectation has been that Daniel Cormier will battle Brock Lesnar sometime in early 2019 before the storied fighter hangs up the gloves. But now, since Lesnar has reportedly signed a new WWE deal, questions about when or if the pro-wrestler will return to the Octagon are being raised.

Cormier – Lesnar has been the supposed plan, ever since “DC” took out Stipe Miocic in July to win the heavyweight crown. Last weekend, Cormier submitted Derrick Lewis at UFC 230, clearing the final hurdle to a showdown with Lesnar right?

Well, veteran pro-wrestling observer and MMA journalist, Dave Meltzer, recently wrote an interesting piece for MMA Fighting. Meltzer is reporting that Lesnar recently signed a new deal with WWE, following the news that fellow star, Leati Joe Anoa’i, or Roman Reigns, is battling leukemia once again. Here’s some of what Meltzer reported:

Lesnar was at first going to leave pro wrestling after Reigns fulfilled his multi-year quest of beating Lesnar this past April. But when Saudi Arabia flashed a checkbook of more than $40 million per show in Vince McMahon’s direction, suddenly the safer world of pro wrestling gave Lesnar a monetary offer you couldn’t turn down to do a few more shows, a run that was scheduled to end this past Friday.

But with Reigns out, Lesnar got a new offer from McMahon to replace Reigns as his top singles champion. Lesnar agreed secretly to the new deal, and won the pro wrestling championship again. The new deal is for multiple shows, but its length of time has been kept secretive. But it is known that Lesnar is scheduled as late as April of next year for WrestleMania.

Meltzer also notes that Lesnar is contractually allowed to take a bout in the UFC. But in light of the new deal, and the fact it’s believed the former UFC champ will compete at Wrestlemania in April, it raises questions as to whether he’ll fight Cormier before he retires. It’s also not known whether Lesnar still plans to fight, given that he has signed this new deal with WWE.

“DC” has repeatedly said he’s going to walk away from fighting when he turns 40 in March. As a result, after UFC 230, Cormier noted that fighting Lesnar in early March would be ideal.

So, while none of this means Cormier – Lesnar isn’t going to happen, it looks as though the bout would need to take place earlier in 2019.