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See the full story · 3 sourcesMINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - AUGUST 1: Brock Lesnar makes his entrance during SummerSlam at U.S. Bank Stadium on August 1, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images) | WWE via Getty Images
Brock Lesnar is finally walking away from professional wrestling and the world of combat sports altogether.
On Tuesday, the former UFC heavyweight champion and longtime WWE star announced on The Pat McAfee Show that he is officially retiring from professional wrestling, a business the 49-year-old Lesnar has been involved with since 2000. Lesnar appeared at the WWE’s SummerSlam event this past Saturday, where he lost to Oba Femi, putting an end to their storyline feud, which began earlier this year and included a match at WrestleMania 42 this past April that Femi was also booked to win.
As it stands, their SummerSlam encounter will go down as Lesnar’s final match.
“I’m here today to do this interview to let the world and everybody know that I am retired and I wanted to say a big thank you to everybody,” Lesnar told McAfee. “Saturday was a very emotional day for me. It’s kind of weird because—When Oba Femi slammed me at WrestleMania, I was like, I can’t do this again. I was like, ‘I think I’m done.’ But the business and I still have fuel in the tank but Saturday for Brock Lesnar, that’s it. That’s it for me in the squared circle and for everything else, too.
“I just want to give a shout-out to everybody on this universe that has followed me since I was a little kid all the way until Saturday. I was just a farm kid from South Dakota with a big dream and a big heart and a big-ass chip on my shoulder and I’m just grateful. Grateful to be 49 years old and to have to be able to do what I did in this lifetime, I thank God and everybody that supported me.”
"I'm here today to let the world know that I am retired and I wanted to say a big thank you to everybody.. That was it for me on Saturday and I'm very grateful for everything" ~ @BrockLesnar #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/riY8YLZpPO
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 4, 2026
Lesnar was widely regarded as one of the most promising professional wrestling prospects of all time, having signed with WWE (then the WWF) directly out of college after winning an NCAA Division-I heavyweight title in 2000, his senior year at the University of Minnesota. He quickly rose through the ranks, making his main roster debut in 2002 and went on to become the promotion’s youngest ever world champion at 25 when he was booked to go over future Hollywood film star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at the 2002 edition of SummerSlam.
However, in 2004, Lesnar requested to leave the WWE due to burnout from the intense work schedule, among other factors. He was granted his release and briefly pursued an NFL career (despite having zero collegiate football experience) before turning his attention to MMA. Lesnar defeated Kim Min-soo in his MMA debut in 2007, but lost in his UFC debut to Frank Mir. He rebounded with a win over Heath Herring and went on to capture the UFC heavyweight title by knockout out Randy Couture in just his fourth pro bout.
During his brief time with the UFC, Lesnar established himself as one of the biggest box office draws in MMA history, regularly surpassing the 1,000,000 pay-per-view buy mark whenever he was featured.
Lesnar successfully defended his UFC title twice before losing it to Cain Velasquez and later returned to the WWE in 2012. Four years later, he made what would be his final UFC appearance, defeating Mark Hunt at UFC 200 in a bout that would later be overturned to a no-contest when Lesnar later tested positive for banned substances. Hunt sued Lesnar and the UFC over the result, leading to a years-long litigation battle.
Since that 2016 fight, Lesnar continued to make headlining appearances for WWE, though he was briefly taken off-screen when he was named as part of a lawsuit directed at longtime WWE boss Vince McMahon, who was accused of sexual abuse, trafficking and exploitation by former employee Janel Grant. Regardless, Lesnar returned to in-ring activity in 2025 and continued to perform.
The famously reclusive Lesnar now hopes to step out of the spotlight for good and focus on his family, with his children pursuing their own athletic dreams, including his daughter Mya, a national shotput champion at Colorado State University.
“I’ve got some hunting lined up and I’ve got two boys in hockey, I’m going to support that, their dreams as long as that’s feasible,” Lesnar said. “My daughter, she’s got her eye on the 2028 Olympics. Just going to spend more time with the kids in the woods and just reap what I’ve sewn. Just enjoy life.”
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