South Dakota native Brock Lesnar returned to the octagon over the weekend for the Ultimate Fighting Championships biggest show to date, UFC 200.
The event sold out the newly constructed T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, a 20,000-seat state of the art facility. Just hours before the fights, the secondary market value for the cheapest ticket in was $350.
Lesnar was victorious in his fight over Mark Hunt, winning in three rounds by unanimous decision. This was Lesnar’s first fight in UFC since 2011, and his first win since 2010.
Born in Webster, South Dakota, Lesnar was a two-time state champion in high school. As a senior he put together an undefeated record of 33-0-0.
For his college career, Lesnar attended Bismark State College for two years, where he won the National Junior College Athletic Association heavyweight wrestling championship. He then transferred to the University of Minnesota and in 2000 won the NCAA D1 heavyweight wrestling championship.
Lesnar fought in UFC from 2008 to 2011, but throughout his life he has been mostly known for his work in pro-wrestling with World Wrestling Entertainment (2000-2004, 2012-present).
Since returning to WWE in 2012, Lesnar has been one of the most popular characters for the company. At WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans, he defeated the Undertaker. This ended the “Dead Man’s” perfect 21-0 win streak at WrestleMania. Since then, Lesnar has been booked as the most dominating superstar on the roster.
In March of 2015, Lesnar signed a new deal with WWE and said he was closing the door on resuming his mixed martial arts career.
As one can imagine, a majority of the UFC world was shocked when UFC announced that Lesnar would be returning for the UFC 200 PPV event. WWE had granted Lesnar the opportunity to return to the octagon for one fight.
It took 15-minutes (three rounds), but Lesnar dominated Mark Hunt winning by unanimous decision (29-27). In the final round, Lesnar delivered 32 ground strikes, which helped him walk out victorious.
Lesnar then gave a post-fight interview where he showed gratitude towards the fans. He also gave a special message in support of the [past and present] service men and women. Lesnar would continue by encouraging all Americans to stick together, as a response to the recent shootings in the country.
He’s scheduled to return to WWE for their August PPV event, SummerSlam, where he’ll face Randy Orton.
This week, on Wednesday July 13, UFC will be at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls for a UFC Fight Night event. For more information on that event, click here.
