Brock Lesnar reportedly confirmed to return to WWE for SummerSlam in August

Despite making plans to return to the Octagon, Lesnar will have at least one more WWE match first

After making a surprise appearance at UFC 226 last Saturday, Brock Lesnar appears poised for another bout inside the Octagon. But before he gets that opportunity, Lesnar will indeed be returning to the squared circle for a match in defense of his WWE universal championship.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported Thursday that Lesnar will make his next in-ring appearance at WWE SummerSlam, the company's second-biggest pay-per-view of the year, on Sunday, Aug. 19 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It should be expected that Lesnar will make at least one television appearance on Raw leading into the big show.

Lesnar has not appeared on WWE TV since April 27 when he defended his title at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is assumed he will be again put the universal championship on the line at SummerSlam, though there is not yet a No. 1 contender for the strap. 

WWE initially announced a multi-man No. 1 contendership bout for its upcoming Extreme Rules PPV only to reverse course one week later and cancel the match. Roman Reigns will be facing Bobby Lashley on Sunday in one of the main event matches at the show, and while it can be expected that the winner will get an opportunity at Lesnar, it is not formally a No. 1 contender match.

Lesnar's WWE contract was initially set to expire in early April following WrestleMania 34, where he was expected to drop the title to Reigns in the main event. Instead, WWE chairman Vince McMahon reversed course and had Lesnar go over in the match, signing him to a short-term extension that was reported by Meltzer to last through August.

With a title defense now spanning 464 days and counting, Lesnar is WWE's longest-reigning heavyweight champion of the modern era. Unlike previous champions, Lesnar's title defenses have been few and far between. In fact, he's only defended the title on television six times -- once every 77 days -- and just four times in one-on-one matches.

Lesnar is 5-3 (1) in UFC with his last match coming at UFC 200 in July 2016 when he defeated Mark Hunt only to see his victory overturned due to a positive doping test. He has not officially won in the Octagon since July 2010 but remains one of UFC's greatest PPV draws despite the fact that he's only had that one aforementioned fight since 2011.

In making his return to the Octagon, it is expected that Lesnar will face Daniel Cormier for the UFC heavyweight championship in either January or March 2019. He reentered the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's drug testing pool in July and must spend six full months being tested before he can be cleared to compete.