Brock Lesnar returning to UFC 200

**Pulp Fiction** · 06-06-2016, 04:20 PM

http://espn.go.com/mma/story/_/id/159953...nt-ufc-200

Brock Lesnar's return to UFC will come against Mark Hunt.

Lesnar announced his UFC 200 opponent during an appearance on SportsCenter on Monday morning. He said his decision to retire from mixed martial arts "has haunted me the last 15 months."

"I feel 1,000 percent," Lesnar told ESPN's Hannah Storm. "The only thing I second-guess is my decision is to step away from the Octagon."

Hunt (12-10-1) is on a two-fight win streak, including a victory over Frank Mir in March. The 42-year-old lost his only title fight against Fabricio Werdum at UFC 180 in November 2014.

UFC 200 will take place July 9 in Las Vegas.

UFC officials announced Lesnar's return Saturday night during UFC 199. WWE said Saturday that Lesnar was "granted a one-off opportunity" to return to UFC and that he would return for WWE's SummerSlam on Aug. 21.

Lesnar, who turns 39 next month, is a former NCAA Division I wrestling champion. He made a successful transition from professional wrestling to mixed martial arts in 2007, and UFC signed Lesnar despite a 1-0 professional record. He debuted against former champion Mir and lost via submission.

Lesnar went on to win his next four bouts, including a November 2008 UFC title fight against Randy Couture. Lesnar avenged the Mir loss at a landmark UFC 100 event on July 11, 2009, in Las Vegas. After that bout, Lesnar was sidelined for a year because of diverticulitis, an intestinal disorder.

He went on to compete two more times, suffering knockout losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem, the latter in December 2011 at UFC 141. Lesnar trained for a comeback last year and was in negotiations with UFC on a new deal but ultimately decided to re-sign with WWE.