Brock Lesnar has revealed how he got his first shot at UFC.
The Beast Incarnate had found himself directionless after quitting WWE in 2004 to join the NFL, only to be cut by Minnesota Vikings before he could play any games for the team. This is when he entered the world of MMA, eventually becoming one of the most prominent faces of UFC.
During a recent interview with Barstool Sports, however, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion revealed that his MMA success did not come easy. He revealed that despite his successful MMA debut at K1's Dynamite!! USA event, UFC President Dana White wanted nothing to do with the former WWE Champion, and he ghosted Brock Lesnar at first:
The UFC—Dana White wanted nothing to do with me. I didn’t know that. He wouldn’t return my phone calls. So what happened was, I fought at the L.A. Coliseum for K-1 Dynamite, and then I wanted to get into the big leagues, and there was only one big league at the time. It was the UFC. So my team reached out and wanted to do something with the UFC.
I'm Brock Lesnar
Explaining how he finally managed to convince White, Brock Lesnar told the story of how he bought tickets to UFC 74 in Mandalay Bay Events Center and confronted the UFC executive after the main event:
So guys, this is how bad this is, this is the stuff that you have to do. So I said, ;Screw it.' I bought four nosebleed tickets to the MGM. Randy Couture was headlining against Gabriel Gonzaga for the Heavyweight Championship.
I sat there in the stands through the entire event, and as soon as Randy won that fight, I scaled security and ran to the octagon and grabbed Dana. And I introduced myself. I said, “I’m Brock Lesnar.” We went to the back and he says, 'Listen, I’ll give you a shot.'
Dana White gave the wrestling veteran a one-fight deal after this but unfortunately for Lesnar, he ended up losing his debut match against Frank Mir. Brock thought that he was never going to be fighting for the promotion again, but Dana then gave him a longer contract because the event did good numbers.
