WWE News: Update On Brock Lesnar’s Contract Status With UFC & WWE And Drug-Testing Eligibility

Brock Lesnar’s convincing win over Mark Hunt inside the octagon at UFC 200 left the world wondering what that might mean for Lesnar’s future as professional athlete. In the short-term, we know he is booked to face Randy Orton in a marquee match at this year’s SummerSlam for the WWE. Beyond that remains somewhat of a mystery, even for the parties involved to some degree.

WWE will be wise to capitalize on Lesnar’s mainstream success stemming from his UFC victory, though unfortunately for them, neither Brock nor Paul Heyman were available for RAW this past Monday to relish in the fallout on WWE programming. The UFC, meanwhile, despite focusing on the monumental sale of the company, still want to keep Lesnar fresh in the eyes of its fans, and did so by elevating him into the eighth spot in the latest heavyweight division rankings.

Vince McMahon has made it known that locking Brock Lesnar up to an extension beyond his existing deal is a top priority. But the likelihood that that remains an exclusive deal seems less and less in the days since Lesnar’s dominating performance in the UFC. In a report from Daily Wrestling News, it’s been revealed that Lesnar is still under contract with UFC, meaning he has legal bindings to both companies.

It has been noted that Dana White would certainly be interested in having Lesnar fight in the UFC again, but at this point, that decision is up to Vince McMahon. Lesnar, himself, hasn’t been entirely clear publicly on his own goals in terms of fighting, but there have been rumors floating around that he wants to fight again either later this year, or early 2017. Vince’s goals for Brock have always been to have him appear at the WWE’s two-to-three biggest shows of the year as long as he’s under contract: WrestleMania, SummerSlam and, perhaps, the Royal Rumble.

But speaking of being under contract, as long as Lesnar has a deal in place with the UFC (though it’s not clear the duration of it) he is subject to drug-testing from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. This is part of a recent initiative from UFC and their anti-doping policy. Lesnar must continue to cooperate and be subject to random testing while under contract with the UFC until he informs the agency that he is retiring.

The policy also states that if a fighter intends to come out of retirement to fight, they must inform the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency four months prior so that they be entered back into the testing pool. Some fighters complained that Lesnar was able to return for UFC 200 without the four-month notice, but he was tested six times in the four weeks leading up to his fight. These policies were not in place the last time Lesnar was a UFC competitor, and he was basically treated as a rookie under these rules, not as a returning fighter because he didn’t initially retire when the USDA was overseeing things.

As noted, Lesnar was paid $2.5 million for the fight against Hunt, received another $5,000 in endorsement money from Reebok and could wind up making as much as $8 million from UFC 200 alone after the pay-per-view buys are sorted out. So in one night, Lesnar’s price tag skyrocketed. That will likely make no difference to McMahon, as he views Brock as a special box-office attraction and major ratings star.

He will likely remain as such until WWE is confident that they’ve built a new star that could take his place. Roman Reigns used to be positioned to take that spot, as well as John Cena’s. But his push has been an abject failure with his recent failed drug test not helping matters. Lesnar was not shy last week when he labeled Roman as “unprofessional” when asked about the violation.

[Photo by AP Photo/John Locher]