UFC
Paul Heyman says Brock Lesnar "finally" has a clean bill of health, would possibly consider UFC return
Aug 5, 2014 - 4:50:04 PM Paul Heyman says Brock Lesnar "finally" has a clean bill of health, would possibly consider UFC return

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Pro wrestling manager extraordinaire Paul Heyman, the current mouthpiece and advocate for longtime friend and former UFC Champion Brock Lesnar, was interviewed this week on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, and discussed Lesnar's fighting end at the hands of Alistair Overeem.

More accurately, he discussed Lesnar's fighting end at the hands of diverticulitis. Heyman feels Lesnar just didn't appreciate the magnitude of his condition at the time, and it took him getting past the disease to understand how much it had affected him.

"He has a clean bill of health, finally," Heyman said (transcribed by BleacherReport.com). "Brock was not ready for the Overeem fight, and I think that's fairly obvious. A liver kick, well placed, will drop any human being on the face of this planet. A liver kick from Alistair Overeem, at that size and weight—no matter how he achieved it—is going to drop any human being. ... Brock was unhealthy walking into that fight with Alistair Overeem."

"I don't think that Brock has ever truly understood nor accepted until he got past it—the severity of the illness that took him down. ... Brock, once he got past the Overeem fight, had all these treatments, switched treatments and doctors and finally got a clean bill of health."

As for the idea of Lesnar returning to MMA, Heyman says it's always a possibility, but not in the cards anytime soon.

"If a change of circumstance happens, and it's a no-brainer to get Brock back into the cage, I'm sure it's something he would consider," Heyman said. "At this moment, it's not a topic of conversation because things are going so well in WWE."

Penick's Analysis: I still don't think Lesnar coming back to the UFC is something that we'll actually see happen. He's got a perfect set up with the WWE right now, and while he's a competitive man, the type of work that even training for MMA would require might not be something he wants to do again. As for Heyman's comments on the Overeem fight, I think it's been pretty clear that the diverticulitis really just sapped Lesnar considerably from where he was into UFC 100. It shortened his career for sure, and made him not nearly as effective over his final three appearances in the Octagon as he was in the three preceding fights. That's why a return continues to garner some interest, because if he's gotten past diverticulitis there is still some "what if?" questions there, but again, I just don't see him returning to the UFC.

[Brock Lesnar art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]