Brock Lesnar spoke about the hard moments of his MMA career. He looked back at his loss to Cain Velasquez and his near-fatal fight with diverticulitis while he was in the UFC.
Early MMA run and rise to champion
Lesnar talked about his post-WWE run in mixed martial arts before he returned to WWE in 2012. He said the UFC was not very interested in him at first. He eventually signed and fought top names like Frank Mir and Randy Couture. Those wins helped him become the UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Loss to Cain Velasquez and health problems
Lesnar named Cain Velasquez as one of the fighters who hurt him most in the cage. He said, “Cain Velasquez, he handed me my a** in Anaheim.” That fight came in October 2010 and Velasquez knocked Lesnar out to take the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
After the Velasquez loss, Lesnar faced a serious health battle. He developed diverticulitis and said he almost died from the disease. He had surgery that removed 12 inches of his colon. Lesnar said the illness and the surgery changed his life and his mind about fighting. He believes the condition took a lot of fight out of him.
Return to the Octagon and later fights
Lesnar came back to the UFC over a year after his surgery to face Alistair Overeem. That fight ended in the first round after Overeem attacked Lesnar’s torso, landed a kick that dropped him, and followed with punches until the referee stopped the fight.
After that loss, Lesnar retired from MMA and returned to WWE. He made one more UFC appearance in 2016. He fought Mark Hunt at UFC 200 and won that night, but the result was later changed to a no-contest after Lesnar failed a USADA drug test.
Recent fight results
| Fighter | Recent Result |
|---|---|
| Brock Lesnar | Lost to Cain Velasquez by knockout (October 2010, Anaheim); stopped by Alistair Overeem in round one after surgery; UFC 200 bout with Mark Hunt originally a win, later ruled no-contest (2016) |
| Cain Velasquez | Knockout win over Brock Lesnar (October 2010, Anaheim) |
| Alistair Overeem | Won in round one against Brock Lesnar after body strikes |
| Mark Hunt | Fought Brock Lesnar at UFC 200 (2016); result overturned to no-contest |
Lesnar on how it changed him
Lesnar said he was not usually scared of fighters, but his health fight shifted his view. The surgery and the close call with death changed his mentality toward the sport. He admitted those events affected the balance of his career and his later performances.
