Morning Report: Dana White says chances are ‘very, very, very good’ that Brock Lesnar returns to the UFC

In 2016, when the UFC needed a draw to juice up their marquee summer event, UFC 200, UFC President Dana White pulled a rabbit out of his hat by negotiating the return of former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Though Lesnar is under contract with the WWE, he was allowed a one-off opportunity to come back to the realm of unscripted combat. But with Lesnar’s WWE contract ending this year, it appears White has a more permanent return in mind for “The Beast.”

Speaking recently with the Happy Hours radio show on SiriusXM Nascar, White was succinct in summing up the odds on a possible Lesnar return to the UFC in 2018.

“They’re very, very, very good.”

Also, just a few days ago, White posted a picture to his Instagram account of himself and Lesnar together, with a smiling emoji as the caption. Taken together, all signs seem to point to a happy homecoming for Lesnar when his WWE contract ends this summer.

Re-signing Lesnar to the UFC would be a huge coup as the promotion struggles to find enough stars to boost up a year that has so far been lackluster.

Of course, even when Lesnar’s contract with the WWE expires, he won’t be eligible to fight right away as he is still under suspension from USADA for failing a drug test in relation to his return bout against Mark Hunt at UFC 200. Though the suspension was handed out over a year ago, Lesnar’s departure from fighting caused it to be frozen until his return, meaning he has another six months on the shelf after re-enrolling in the drug-testing program.

That extra time off might not be a bad things though. The six months would give Lesnar time to knock off some of the MMA rust that has accrued while he’s been focused on professional wrestling and Lesnar’s friend and wrestling mouthpiece Paul Heyman recently suggested that the time off has allowed Lesnar to heal nagging injuries and stay fit.

One things for certain though, if Lesnar does come back, Mark Hunt is going to be furious.