Brock Lesnar, Dana White and the UFC were all cleared of fraud and battery charges stemming from UFC 200 in 2016 when the former defeated Mark Hunt in Las Vegas at the pay-per-view event.
Hunt originally accused the UFC, White and Lesnar of racketeering and fraud after the latter tested positive for a banned substance ahead of their fight.
Hunt claimed White and the UFC knew Lesnar had been doping, but they allowed the fight to happen anyway.
That initial lawsuit was thrown out, but charges were rekindled as Hunt claimed fraud and battery. Judge Jennifer Dorsey—the same judge that originally threw Hunt’s case out—squashed what appears to be the final remnants of Hunt’s official complaints made against Lesnar, White and the UFC citing a lack of evidence presented by the plaintiff.
According to Hillel Aron of Courthouse News, Dorsey wrote:
“Unfortunately, Hunt does not point to any evidence in the record of any physical, emotional, economic, or reputational damage or harm attributable to Defendants-Appellees’ conduct. Indeed, while maintaining that such evidence does in fact exist, Hunt acknowledged both in his reply brief and at argument that evidence of damages has not yet been ‘adequately presented.’ At the summary judgment stage, the nonmoving party must present evidence showing there is a genuine issue of material fact for trial. The nonmoving party may not merely . . . proceed in the hope that something can be developed at trial in the way of evidence to support its claim. Absent evidence of damages resulting from Defendants-Appellants’ allegedly wrongful conduct, we must affirm.”
Despite Hunt’s passion and public stance against doping in combat sports, the court has now ruled for the second time that the claims don’t meet the legal standard for damages.
Lesnar originally won the heavyweight encounter with Hunt via one-sided unanimous decision. The result of the fight was changed to a no contest and Lesnar was fined $250,000.
After UFC 200, Lesnar returned to WWE and resumed his wrestling career. However, he hasn’t appeared on WWE programming since August 2023 at SummerSlam.
While Lesnar appears to be clear of any issues related to this case associated with UFC 200, there is still a cloud hanging over his potential return to WWE.
Lesnar’s name was mentioned in a lawsuit against former WWE CEO Vince McMahon. Though Lesnar is not a defendant in the lawsuit, it alleges McMahon offered former WWE employee Janel Grant to Lesnar for sex in 2021.
It is believed that the inclusion of Lesnar’s name in the lawsuit has prevented him from returning to the professional wrestling promotion. However, there has been speculation that WWE is moving toward bringing Lesnar back, as multiple current performers have dropped his name during programming over the last year.
Despite the negativity attached to his name, Lesnar remains one of the biggest names in combat sports and professional wrestling.
One thing seems certain, his issues with Hunt appear to be over.