8 Intriguing Implications Of Brock Lesnar At UFC 200
2. The Door May Be Cracked Open For A Talent Exchange
There’s a distinct chance that this one-off appearance from WWE’s Brock Lesnar on the card at UFC200 isn’t only a hail mary play for a last shot at MMA credibility from Lesnar himself. Vince McMahon’s a canny operator (yes, I said ‘canny’ this time, not ‘carny’) - could this also be a play by the WWE to open negotiations for UFC talent to appear on WWE programming?
On the face of it, that’s a preposterous idea. It’s enough of a gamble for WWE that Lesnar won’t damage himself in the rigorous training camp necessary to compete at that level of mixed martial arts, or in the fight itself. Mark Hunt, after all, is no joke.
No doubt Vince McMahon is banking on the frankly freakish physique of the Beast Incarnate - that it would take a tank to injure him badly enough that SummerSlam would no longer be in the cards for him. Most UFC fighters simply aren’t built like the Beast - will the UFC risk losing to injury fighters they’ve invested time and money in?
There’s plenty of precedent here. For years now it’s been considered a good career move for legitimate fighters done with their MMA careers to investigate the possibility of a move to professional wrestling, and in the last year two of the UFC’s top drawing fighters, Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor, have been rumoured to be thinking about a change of scenery.
I’ve written before about the long history of MMA’s influence on pro wrestling and WWE in particular, and the appropriation of genuine UFC talent to work an angle or two in WWE would be perfectly in line with that tendency. And as far as the risk goes - if it’s UFC talent in play, it’s UFC taking the risk, not Vince McMahon.
That’s why it would have to be one way traffic, and one way traffic only: WWE won’t take the risk. As previously discussed, I’m sure many members of the WWE roster would prefer the exclusivity requirements of their contracts to be relaxed.
However, even if they were allowed to fight, there’s no way in the world that the company would grant full time WWE performers time off to train for an MMA fight, even if they were still young enough and their background gave them a shot (NXT’s Jason Jordan springs to mind).
Of course, they could simply take the time off - but if they did, they’d be losing whatever spot they had in the company. Without time off, WWE superstars simply don’t have the time in their schedule necessary for a real training camp, even if they were inclined towards competing in mixed martial arts.