UFC official: Brock Lesnar not back in USADA testing pool, not planning return

The current WWE universal champion may be thinking of leaving WWE, but nothing is official yet

Despite a flurry of recent reports to the contrary, news that WWE superstar and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has re-entered USADA's drug-testing pool in hopes of an Octagon comeback are not true, according to a UFC official. 

Jeff Novitzky, UFC's vice president of athlete health and performance, told MMAJunkie.com on Wednesday there is "zero truth" to the reports circulated by multiple outlets. 

"[Lesnar] is not currently enrolled in the USADA testing pool, nor has there been any inquiry on his part to do so," Novitzky said.

Lesnar, 40, who initially retired from UFC following his December 2011 loss to Alistair Overeem, made a much-publicized return last July at UFC 200. After begin given permission for the "one-off" by WWE, Lesnar scored a unanimous decision over Mark Hunt. 

The victory was overturned shortly after (and changed to a no contest) when it was revealed Lesnar tested positive twice for the banned substance clomiphene. Lesnar was suspended by USADA and the Nevada State Athletic Commission for one year and fined $250,000. In February, he officially retired from MMA.

In order to return to UFC upon the completion of his suspension, Lesnar would need to first be entered into the USADA testing program for six months. UFC, however, retains the right to waive the testing period (which formally was four months) and faced plenty of public scrutiny when it did just that for Lesnar last June. 

Lesnar's current suspension doesn't cover the "frozen" months in which he was retired. Should he return to the test pool with a written note to UFC and USADA announcing he is coming out of retirement, he would need to serve six more months of suspension, pushing his eligibility to fight again off until 2018. 

"If he ever re-entered the program, he'd have to serve [the duration of the suspension] before he'd be able to compete," Novitzky told MMAFighting.com. 

The news of Lesnar needing to first finish his suspension would put him out of consideration to fight on UFC's expected return to New York's Madison Square Garden in November. 

Even though Lesnar tested positive twice before his fight with Hunt last year, the results did not return until after the fight. Hunt went on to sue Lesnar, UFC and USADA and motions were made by both parties to dismiss the suits.

A report Wednesday from prowrestlingsheet.com iterated Lesnar was only considering re-entering the MMA testing pool in order to keep his options open when his current WWE deal expires next spring after WrestleMania 34.