Brock Lesnar will return to the UFC in December at UFC 219. A source close to the promotion, speaking on the condition of anonymity, has told halfguarded.com that Lesnar will fight Jon Jones! The fight will be Jones’s heavyweight debut and will headline the company’s end of the year spectacular in Las Vegas.
We note that this same source also gave us the inside scoop of Lesnar’s return at UFC 200, so take it with (50000000) grains of salt.
Brock Lesnar vs Jon Jones: A History of Drug Failures
Lesnar, of course, was suspended following his UFC 200 win over Mark Hunt. Lesnar tested positive for a banned substance and was given a one year suspension as a penalty. The drug test failure was one of the major catalysts behind Mark Hunt suing the UFC, claiming an unsafe work environment.
Jones isn’t without his own fair share of drug controversies. He famously (infamously?) tested positive for cocaine during an out of competition test. He also showed abnormal testosterone levels during that December 2014 test. Funny enough, Jones wasn’t even told about those results until after he’d beaten Daniel Cormier at UFC 182.
Jones was then involved in a high profile arrest that saw him involved in a car crash before he then fled the scene. Jones reportedly had marijuana on his person at that time.
Most recently, Jones was suspended for a year after he failed a pre-fight drug test. Jones was slated to fight Cormier at UFC 200.
Jones has a bunch of other public screw ups but there’s only so many words available to use on the Internet these days.
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Lesnar vs Jones: Money Money Money
Lesnar, said our source, is supposedly getting the largest guaranteed payday in UFC history. While he may not make more than Conor McGregor, given the way PPV points work, it’s possible Lesnar could make upwards of $20m for the Jones fight.
The UFC is all about maximizing revenue in the short term. The company has a new TV deal to negotiate and so the pressure is on to do whatever it takes to make the promotion seem red-hot. Whether that is the best strategy down the line remains to be seen, but it surely gives insight into why they’re willing to engage freak show fights like Lesnar vs Jones.
The fans will see a crazy, once-in-a-lifetime fight (been a lot of those lately). Jones will get a chance to make a major statement in a new weight class; and it’s not like he has a ton of interesting fights left at 205 lbs. Lesnar will make ungodly sums of money. The UFC will make even more unholy amounts of cash. It’s kind of a win all around.
