Brock Lesnar: For Two Years I Had To Lie To Myself

To say the last two years of Brock Lesnar's life have been lost to a chaotic state of uncertainty is somewhat of an understatement. Once one of the most public and divisive men in the UFC, Lesnar collapsed into a shell of his former self throughout two grueling bouts with diverticulitis. Behind scattered promotional appearances and scarce P.R. updates, the former heavyweight champion labored in relative obscurity amongst the Minnesota wilderness, privately battling for his livelihood in the hopes of emerging on the other side.

"For two years I had to lie to myself and lie to all of my fans. I had to get up every morning and say, ‘you feel good today', and I didn't," Lesnar candidly explains in a WWE '12 promotional video released on Tuesday. "I had the surgery, its out of my life, and I'm back. And that's a damn good feeling."

With the big man now reportedly approaching 100-percent, the UFC wasted no time booking his return to the Octagon. Lesnar is slated to take on former Strikeforce, DREAM, and K-1 champion Alistair Overeem at December's UFC 141 main event, in what will be his first fight since October of 2010.

The Dutch striking savant, one of the few men to mirror Lesnar's immense size advantage, heads into the heavyweight contest as the betting favorite, but after the life-altering experiences the former WWE-star has faced and overcome, entering as an underdog is the least of his worries.

"I'm approaching this fight hungrier than I've ever been," Lesnar somberly states. "The things that I accomplished with the sickness that I had are very remarkable. Nobody will know that except for me and the people that I surrounded myself by, that saw me do the things that I did under the circumstances that I was given."

Lesnar's reserved nature is a startling revelation for those accustomed to the brash antics of the goliath trash-talker that took the UFC heavyweight division by storm in 2008. Fans first noticed the shift after Lesnar's first return from diverticulitis last year, and the evolution only seems to have perpetuated since then; the product of a life transformed by immeasurable hardship.

Now, it seems, the impetuous callouts have vanished to only be replaced by a measured sense of confidence.

"I don't have a lot to say to Alistair Overeem," Lesnar slowly explains. "Here's a guy that is getting his chance to make his name in the UFC, and unfortunately for him there's a gatekeeper that stands in his way, and that's Brock Lesnar."

Even still, as the third-person references drift in and out of his diction, the old wrestler in him can't help but rear its gaudy head if provoked. When asked for his ultimate intentions, Lesnar, like always, refused to mince words.

"I will be, once again, the UFC heavyweight champion of the world."