Brock Lesnar Announces He'll Fight Mark Hunt at UFC 200

Brock Lesnar just appeared live on ESPN's SportsCenter Face to Face with Hannah Storm to talk about his return to the Octagon. The former UFC Heavyweight champion, and current WWE Superstar, has negotiated an unprecedented deal where he stays on the WWE roster but is allowed to fight at UFC 200. For such a momentous occasion, he needed a momentous opponent, and Lesnar announced he'll be fighting Mark Hunt, who signed his contract as Lesnar was walking onto the SportsCenter set. Lesnar had no say as to who his fight would be against, and will face the eighth ranked heavyweight in the world for his return.

"I'm a grappler at heart, and he's a heavy hitter. The UFC works best when it puts guys with opposing disciplines against each other," Lesnar said of his opponent. "I think we match up very well against each other. I have to work on my stand-up game, obviously!"

Lesnar officially retired from MMA in early 2015 with an announcement fifteen months ago, also on ESPN.

"I couldn't live with that decision. I couldn't live like that for the rest of my life. I'm a big believer in living out your dreams, facing your fears, and the reality of not wanting to be sitting 20 years from now going, son, you should've done that," Lesnar said of coming out of retirement. He was sitting at his farm in Canada thinking about the decision, which he said started pretty much as soon as he announced his retirement.

"The true competitor in me is still alive and well," Lesnar said. He thought the WWE would help him scratch that itch, but it wasn't quite enough. Part of his decision originally was battling with diverticulitis, a disease he has fought back twice.

Brock Lesnar "picked up the phone" about three months ago to see if he could fight at UFC 200 - Dana White didn't call him initially. He had to have "a big boy conversation with the boss, Vince McMahon," which he said was a simple business conversation. "I couldn't be more excited and honored that both companies have enough faith in Brock Lesnar to let him step back into the Octagon."

Lesnar's UFC deal had "lots of zeroes" attached to it, but he didn't disclose exactly what it would include. He'll also return to the WWE spotlight this summer, just one month after UFC 200, at WWE Summerslam, Lesnar confirmed.

Lesnar's return to the Octagon comes after five years out of competitive MMA, instead performing as "The Beast" Brock Lesnar at WWE in select appearances. His WWE contract has the brutal fighter appearing typically only ever few months, with his matches there being presented as events. He defeated The Undertaker in the latter's first Wrestlemania loss ever, held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and has been featured at several major pay-per-view events in the last five years. Lesnar's the only fighter to have achieved the UFC World Heavyweight Championship, IWGP, WWE, and NCAA Division 1 Heavyweight Championships.