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The former UFC champion and current WWE superstar, Brock Lesnar, has chosen not to return to mixed martial arts after all.
UFC President Dana White told ESPN Tuesday that Lesnar (5-3) had informed him that he had no plans to fight at new. The UFC had considered reserving a heavyweight title fight between Lesnar and defending champion Daniel Cormier this summer, but Lesnar finally informed White that last week he was retired.
"He told me that he was done, he retired," White told ESPN. "We will go in another direction with Cormier."
White said the new plan is to book a rematch between Cormier (22-1) and former champion Stipe Miocic (18-3), who had already met with UFC 226 in July 2018. Cormier claimed the heavyweight belt by knocking out Miocic in the first round match.
Lesnar was present at UFC 226 and even faced Cormier in the Octagon immediately after the knockout victory. Since then, White has stated in several interviews that he wanted to fight if he could reach an agreement with Lesnar.
Lesnar had also joined the mandatory anti-doping program of the UFC in anticipation of a return.
Earlier this month, Lesnar was one of the keynote speakers at the Assiniboia Sports gala dinner and auction in Saskatchewan. He told the crowd that he still had not decided to accept the fight with Cormier or not.
Lesnar, 41, has not fought since the UFC 200 in July 2016, when he defeated Mark Hunt by unanimous decision. The fight was then reversed to no protest after Lesnar failed two drug tests related to the fight against the banned substance clomiphene.
Cormier, 40, originally planned to retire from MMA this month, but has since postponed that decision. He and Miocic have made several round trips on social media, Miocic accusing him of avoiding a revenge.
Before losing the belt to Cormier, Miocic, 36, defended the title a UFC record three times in a row.
Ariel Helwani of ESPN contributed to this report.
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