Trainer: Lesnar retirement was mental not physical
“I believe physically Brock Lesnar still has the gifts and he still has the ability to improve and to grow,” said former trainer Greg Nelson.
Late Wed following UFN 35, UFC president Dana White recently discussed the potential return of Brock Lesnar.
“Me and Brock talk,” said White. “I said recently Brock feels like, he said he has some regrets with MMA because he wasn’t healthy. He was going through those stomach problems the whole time he was here. So he has regrets.”
“He thinks a Brock Lesnar that was 100 percent could have done much better… Would he like to fight again? I’m sure he would. We’ll see how this whole thing plays out. It’s definitely a possibility.”
Lesnar’s trainer Greg Nelson appeared recently on the Sherdog Radio Network’s Beatdown show and discussed his most famous student. Nelson said that the reason Lesnar retired was not physical, but mental.
“I think mentally, the diverticulitis, that was the big thing [that led to his retirement],” said Nelson.
I have not talked to Brock for quite a while, probably months, months. He really is a recluse — when it comes to when he’s not in the limelight, he is gone. He has property in Canada. He has property obviously in northern Minnesota and he goes hunting in Wyoming. I mean, the guy, when he’s not doing something, he is with his family and he’s like an absolute ninja.
Nelson said he thought Lesnar could still be successful in the UFC.
I believe so,” said the trainer. “If he came back and he was 100-percent mentally in the game, knowing that he could take whatever it meant to take, he could push himself, he could get hit, he could whatever – that was the big thing. When he was mentally on, I mean, literally, like his moniker when he was a college wrestler, he was like a freight train. He just was going to go through anything. If he came back and he was mentally 100-percent there, I believe physically he still has the gifts and he still has the ability to improve and to grow, but it’s like anything. The game is such a mental thing that once that chink in the armor was there and that kind of embedded itself in his head, I think that was really the point where it was tough for him.
If he came back and he really wanted to train and really wanted to do it and his heart was in it, it would be great. He was a pleasure to work with because he was a real professional. You talk about a professional in training, Brock Lesnar’s a huge professional. When training starts at 10 o’clock, that means 10 o’clock wrapped, ready and warming up. … The other thing with Brock is he would pay his training partners just like boxers pay people to come in, and he would basically say, ‘You’re like an employee now; you have to be here. This is a professional thing, and if you don’t, I’ll just let you go.’ He really does train like a professional. … If his mind’s into it and he really wants to do it, it’d be great.
Listen to entire interview… (1:50:05 mark)