Dana White defends Brock Lesnar's UFC run, happy for him in his WWE return

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Brock Lesnar's return to the WWE earlier this month garnered a wide variety of reactions in the MMA community, ranging from those happy for him to those who felt validated that he'd been sent out of real fighting and back to the "fake fighting" world of pro wrestling.

Don't count UFC President Dana White among the detractors, though. Speaking with reporters after UFC 145 on Saturday in Atlanta, White expressed his admiration for what Lesnar accomplished in the UFC, and had nothing but good things to say about the former UFC Heavyweight Champion.

"The guy came over here at thirty-whatever-years-old," White said after the Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans headlined card (transcribed by MMAWeekly.com). "When he came over here the guy was 1-0 in MMA and I was like, 'you're crazy. You're gonna get smashed over here, and he didn't."

"We threw all the toughest guys at him, and he accomplished what he accomplished."

There was some initial controversy with Lesnar returning to the WWE, as his contract status with the UFC was unknown after his retirement in December. But White said there were no issues on their end, and ultimately he said he's happy for Lesnar and the WWE that they were able to rekindle a working relationship.

"When he did the deal with the WWE, all the rumblings started with you guys," White said. "He never called me. He never told me. He didn't have to. It was always up front and said in his deal, he could do the WWE."

"I'm happy for him. To do what he did in the WWE, came here and did what he did, now he's back over there. Good for him; good for them."

Penick's Analysis: Lesnar's accomplishments in the UFC cannot be discounted simply because he's gone back to pro wrestling. Though he only put forth a 4-3 mark in the UFC, he still pulled off highly impressive wins over four top-flight opponents in the heavyweight division in the time he had. His battle with diverticulitis cut things short, and halted the continued progress he had been making, but going back to WWE doesn't discredit what he was able to do in the Octagon. He now gets to go back to something he was always good at, and gets to do so on his terms with much less of a time and travel commitment than in his first stint with the WWE. As White said, good for him, good for them.

[Brock Lesnar art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_13106.shtml

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