He’s Back!

20 Jan 2010

Brock Lesnar, the University of Minnesota wrestling legend who rose to the top of the mixed martial arts world, said Wednesday that he has licked his life-threatening ailment and will return to action this summer.

Lesnar, 32, said in an interview on ESPN that he was mysteriously stricken during his training for what was to be an Ultimate Fighting Championship title defense in November vs. Shane Carwin.

However, the match was called off, when Lesnar fell ill and the heavyweight’s future in fighting and overall well-being were in doubt.

Lesnar said he was suffering from diverticulosis, causing him severe abdominal pain.

“I was just feeling sick for the longest time through my training,” Lesnar said on the sports cable network. The doctors “were dumbfounded,” he added.

“One night, I woke up in severe shock with a 104 temperature,” Lesnar said. “I took antibiotics and pain medication to heal myself or I would have had to remove part of my colon and wear a colonoscopy bag and end my career.”

Lesnar said he dropped about 40 pounds from his hulking frame while in the hospital for 11 days.

After what he called outstanding medical care in Bismarck, N.D., and at the Mayo Clinic that “sav[ed] my life and my career,” the former NCAA wrestling champion and WWE professional wrestler said he took a holistic approach to his healing and avoided surgery.

At a checkup just after the first of the year, Lesnar said, he was the recipient of “a miracle. [The doctors] were dumbfounded. They couldn’t find any signs of any trouble.”

Having put back on 30 pounds, Lesnar said he’s looking forward to a title match this summer, most likely against the winner of the Frank Mir-Carwin interim championship match on March 27 in Newark, N.J.

Lesnar hasn’t been in the octagon since UFC 100 last July, when he beat Mir in the biggest event ever in mixed martial arts.