A unique deal struck between the UFC and the WWE allowed former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar to make his return to mixed martial arts competition at the landmark UFC 200 event. Though Lensar is still under contract with the pro-wrestling organization, he was allowed to compete in a “one-off” fight for the UFC because of certain circumstances, including the fact that UFC 200 is targeted to be the biggest event in UFC history.
The WWE has been heavily promoting Lesnar’s return to the Octagon against Mark Hunt. For example, Lesnar’s weigh-in was streamed on the official WWE website. According to UFC president Dana White, who talked to the media following the UFC 200 weigh-ins on Friday evening, the UFC 200 broadcast on Saturday will feature promotion for the WWE (perhaps next month’s SummerSlam event, which features Lesnar).
“The fact that they did this, I wanted to reciprocate, so yes,” White said, when asked if UFC 200 will feature any WWE promotional material (via Fight Network). “And they’re doing it. If you look today, Brock’s weigh-in will be on all social media for WWE. This deal couldn’t have worked out any better.”
White also went into a bit of detail regarding who was involved in the deal to re-sign Lesnar to the premier mixed martial arts organization and how it all came together.
“It was Brock’s team, me, Vince and Triple H. Brock Lensar just weighed-in on stage and he’s fighting here tomorrow night, so it went great. Listen, Vince and I have had our ups and downs and Vince is a tough character to deal with. He’s an animal. It’s one of the things that I respect about him. I think he’s loosened up a bit on the UFC.”
Lesnar’s return to the Octagon against Hunt co-headlines UFC 200, which takes place live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 9. A women’s bantamweight title fight between champ Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes is the main event of the evening.
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