The first time Brock Lesnar retired from MMA, back in 2011, not everyone was totally shocked. There was the diverticulitis, which sapped him of energy. There was that body kick that Alistair Overeem delivered him, which sapped him of will. There was Canada calling to him like the woods did Henry David Thoreau. And there was the WWE in his back pocket like an uncashed check.
Still, though he told the gathered in Las Vegas at UFC 141, “tonight was the last time you'll see me in the Octagon,” you knew “retirement” was a little bit too permanent for a guy with easy seven-figure earning power in the sport.