UFC Heavyweight Brock Lesnar Reportedly Retired Due To PPV Changes
According to UFC President Dana White, WWE and UFC star Brock Lesnar has decided to retire from MMA. According to reports, this may have been due to a change in UFC pay per view structure.
It was to the surprise of some when Brock Lesnar allegedly declared his intent to retire from MMA. He was in talks for a heavyweight title bout with Daniel Cormier. He has been in the USADA drug testing pool. Lesnar had gone through the motions. So when Dana announced on Tuesday that Brock Lesnar would be retiring, it seemed odd.
However, according to a report from Dave Meltzer, the reason for the recent announcement was due to a change in the way the UFC does PPV events. Previously, Lesnar would recieve PPV points; a percentage of the sales of PPV, and a ton of extra cash. Recently, the UFC signed an exclusive PPV deal with ESPN to be the sole distributor of PPVs. This has caused concerns that overall PPV sales will decline.
On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer says Brock Lesnar wanted a flat fee for his next UFC fight due to UFC pay-per-view now being online only. Dave says the number was deemed too high & turned down by the UFC.
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) May 2, 2019
“On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer says Brock Lesnar wanted a flat fee for his next UFC fight due to UFC pay-per-view now being online only. Dave says the number was deemed too high & turned down by the UFC.”
The tweet from Sean Sheehan says that according to Meltzer, Brock Lesnar subsequently requested a flat fee for the sales. Apparently, the UFC decided the number was too high, and denied the request.
This information has called into question White’s statement of Lesnar retiring. The logical conclusion is to wait until we hear from Brock Lesnar, himself. Until that time, one must assume Cormier will be facing Stipe Miocic instead.
