There appears to be a race between the UFC and Bellator to bolster their Heavyweight ranks as Brock Lesnar is expected to be free from his World Wrestling Entertainment contract and both companies would clearly like to sign him.
The recent signings by both companies of recycled talent indicate that there is a very real play being made to take anyone with some name recognition off the market. Bellator recently inked Kimbo Slice, while the UFC resigned Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipović, this time apparently without Lorenzo Fertitta flying into the Balkans on his jet to sign him.
The scary thing is that most people will give Bellator very little chance at getting Lesnar over the UFC, and that may have changed slightly. No one confuses Bellator for the big time yet, and that may dissuade Lesner from joining them. Their only chance was to come forth with a massive money offer, and the idea of a Lesnar vs Kimbo Slice bout may give them the biggest potential fight out there. Add to that Bellator President Scott Coker‘s purported interest in luring Fedor Emilianenko out of retirement, and you have the makings of a potential multi-fight deal for Lesnar.
Now, the UFC has a third bout with Frank Mir in their hip pocket, and they potentially have a fight with the 40-year-old Filipović in mind for Lesnar. Though the UFC has the legitimacy of being the big show, and their marketing of the sport has far exceeded anything Bellator has shown itself capable of up to this point, it really does appear that Bellator has laid the groundwork for a more appealing set of fights for Lesnar. Now it is not out of the realm of possibility that Lesnar wants to come back and redeem himself by fighting Cain Velasquez again. Werdum would be a challenge in the ring, but would it make as much money as fighting Kimbo?
The guy in the cat bird seat right now is Lesnar, who stands to make a boatload of money either way he goes. And if he doesn’t get a money offer he likes, he can probably head back over to pro wrestling.
Check out CroCop’s last fight, this past New Year’s eve in Japan where he defeated Satoshi Ishii.
