Daniel Cormier knows his bank account will benefit from facing Brock Lesnar but he also admits that there has to be concerns about a guy who has previously tested positive for a banned substance.
Following his most recent return to action at UFC 200 in 2016, Lesnar tested positive for clomiphene, an anti-estrogen drug that can be used in post-cycle therapy for people coming off use of anabolic steroids.
Lesnar faced a one year suspension — which is why he’s not eligible to return until 2019 — and he’s been undergoing testing with USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) in anticipation of his fight against Cormier in 2019.
While the fight hasn’t been signed, all indications are the UFC will book Cormier against Lesnar next year with the heavyweight title on the line.
On paper, Lesnar obviously doesn’t deserve a shot at the belt based on his resume but he happens to be one of the five biggest draws in the history of the sport and that seems to supersede rankings or other contenders in the division.
As much as the fight may add to his paycheck, Cormier says there’s no way he can ignore Lesnar’s history when it comes to performance enhancing drugs.
“If I’ve got to be honest, yeah,” Cormier told Jim Rome on his podcast when asked if he worried about Lesnar cheating. “You don’t know with a guy that has a history of failing drug tests and a guy that has a history of not necessarily doing things the right way.”
If there’s one major positive ahead of this proposed fight it’s that Cormier has used his own eye test to see Lesnar undergoing drastic physical changes since re-entering the USADA program earlier this year.
“You don’t know with a guy that has a history of failing drug tests” ~ Daniel Cormier on Brock Lesnar
Lesnar still performs somewhat regularly in WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and Cormier can’t help but notice that the former UFC champion has looked a lot trimmer these days.
“When I look at Brock and I see him now and he’s competing in the WWE and being under the USADA testing program, I see the differences in him,” Cormier said. “You look at Brock Lesnar today as opposed when he came back at UFC 200, he looks like a completely different person.
“He’s smaller physically, his face looks a lot smaller, there’s just a lot of differences in him so if I am to believe my eyes, then it tells me that he’s being tested and he’s being tested a lot.”
According to USADA, Lesnar has been tested five times since he re-entered the testing pool in July. He will be eligible to compete again in January but the UFC still hasn’t officially booked his fight against Cormier just yet.
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