Former UFC competitors Brock Lesnar and Matt Riddle reportedly got into it Sunday night backstage prior to WWE’s Royal Rumble in Houston, Texas.
According to a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet, Lesnar and Riddle passed each other in the hall and a “tense encounter” occurred. A source said that Lesnar saw Riddle and wanted to know the reality of the situation between them.
The report states that, although tensions were high, the altercation did not get physical between Lesnar and Riddle.
Riddle has openly talked for quite some time about wanting to “retire” Lesnar at WrestleMania, but Sunday night was the first time the two former fighters had met each other face-to-face. This seems to have stemmed the encounter between the two backstage at Minute Maid Park.
Riddle was thrust into the UFC spotlight very early in his career, before he even had a professional fight. The 34-year-old was a contestant on Season 7 of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2008 and went 1-1 on the show, losing to Tim Credeur via submission in his second fight on the show. Riddle would go on to finish his UFC run with a 7-3, 2 NC record inside the Octagon. The final fight of Riddle’s career took place in February 2014 when he submitted Michael Kulper in the second round at Titan FC 27 before making the full-time transition to professional wrestling.
Lesnar’s mixed martial arts career began in 2007 and would go on to become the UFC heavyweight champion after defeating Randy Couture via TKO at UFC 91 in just his fourth professional fight. Lesnar would go on to pick up wins over Frank Mir and Shane Carwin before being finished by Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem, which lead him back to the WWE. A little less than five years later, Lesnar returned to the UFC and defeat Mark Hunt at UFC 200 via unanimous decision before the win was overturned to a no contest. Lesnar was flagged by USADA and tested positive for the estrogen blocker clomiphene and was suspended for one year.
A return to the Octagon seemed possible following Daniel Cormier’s heavyweight championship win over Stipe Miocic when Lesnar entered the Octagon and shoved Cormier. The fight would never come together and Cormier would fight Miocic again at UFC 241, losing the title in the rematch.
Do you think the UFC veterans Matt Riddle and Brock Lesnar will end up meeting in the WWE ring?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/27/2020.