LAS VEGAS – The return of Brock Lesnar could come a day shy of Independence Day.
A well-placed UFC source told Me that the promotion is targeting July 3 for an event date in Las Vegas. An event venue for the show, which will likely be UFC 116, has not been determined, and the UFC has not yet reserved the date with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
In three of the past four Fourth of July weekends, the UFC has hosted cards in Las Vegas, and UFC president Dana White recently said he hopes to keep it a tradition much like the organization's Me die weekend and end-of-year shows.
The summer event would be sandwiched between UFC 115 (Vancouver on June 12), The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale (Las Vegas on June 19) and the promotion's first trip to Boston (possibly UFC 117), which is expected for Aug. 28.
White said the outcome of two upcoming heavyweight fights – Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin at UFC 111 (for the interim heavyweight title) and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez at UFC 110 – will factor into determining Lesnar's next opponent, though he didn't specify which winning fighter will get the opportunity.
"We've got to find out what's going to happen with the next two fights, the heavyweight fights, and then we'll figure out what we're going to do," White said Thursday to a gathering of reporters. "If those guys come out of that fight healthy, we'll do that fight."
In a perfect world, White said, Lesnar will return in June or July.
Lesnar is currently on the mend in Minnesota after suffering a severe case of diverticulosis that threatened to end his MMA career. He and White announced his planned return two weeks ago on ESPN's "Sportscenter" and during a subsequent and impromptu media teleconference.
The massive champion said he has already re-gained 20 pounds of muscle after dropping 40 pounds to the intestinal infection. (He normally walks around at 280-plus pounds.)
"I know one thing," Lesnar said of the UFC heavyweight division during the teleconference. "All them guys are [expletive] in their pants right now."
On Top of that...He is the Game cover face to.
UFC heavyweight champion, pay-per-view king and former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar has earned the cover spot on "UFC 2010 Undisputed."
The videogame, which is the second installment of the UFC and THQ's bestselling videogame title, hits stores on May 25 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.
THQ recently revealed the cover art and announced a host of upgrades to the highly acclaimed videogame game.
The debut 2009 title recently surpassed the 3.5 million mark in sales while earning positive reviews from the media and game players. Forrest Griffin graced the cover of the U.S. version, and Georges St-Pierre was featured on the Canadian version.
While "Undisputed" succeeded in an untapped market last year, the UFC title this year gets some competition from EA Sports, which releases "EA Sports MMA" in late summer. The title, which features some of the biggest names from Strikeforce's and DREAM's rosters, has the backing of one of the videogame industry's biggest players.
THQ, though, is stepping up its game. In a recent interview with gamespot.com, THQ's Omar Kendall discussed some of the new changes for the 2010 title, including slight changes to the submission engine, the ability to create your own fighting style, new camp and career options, and tweaks to the title/tournament and online modes.
The game will also have some new playable characters in 2010.
Currently, no other participants are rumored for the July event.
