WWE legend Brock Lesnar has called time on his 26-year career in the business following his defeat to Oba Femi at SummerSlam at the weekend.
Lesnar, a wrestling great and former MMA star, made the announcement during an appearance on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.
Following his Hell in a Cell loss to Femi at SummerSlam in Minneapolis, the 10-time WWE champion confirmed the time has finally come for him to bow out.
‘I’m here today to let the world know that I am retired and I wanted to say a big thank you to everybody,’ he told WWE commentator McAfee and his co-host AJ Hawk. ‘Saturday was a very emotional day for me.’
Lesnar, 49, has retired from wrestling and returned in the past, while he appeared to suggest the end was coming after leaving his gloves and boots in the center of the ring in an emotional moment after his WrestleMania 42 match against Femi earlier this year.
Yet despite having enough left to compete again at SummerSlam, he insists that defeat in Minneapolis will go down as his last in the business.
WWE icon Brock Lesnar has announced he is calling time on his 26-year career in the business
Lesnar, a 10-time WWE champion, made the announcement on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show
‘I still had some 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,’ Lesnar added.
‘So I just wanted to give a shout-out to everybody in this universe that has followed me since I was a little kid, all the way till Saturday.’
Lesnar began life with the WWE back in 2002, following a successful college wrestling career that saw him a two-time NJCAA All-American and accrue a staggering 106-5 record over four years.
After signing with the wrestling promotion, he worked his way into the main roster and eventually became one of the biggest stars in the organization.
However, his first stint in the WWE would come to an end in 2004. Following a defeat at WrestleMania XX, he cited burnout, injuries and creative dissatisfaction as his reasons for walking away.
Lesnar returned to the promotion in 2012 and earned a number of WWE championship titles before seemingly retiring at WrestleMania 36.
That decision, however, was short-lived and he returned to the ring in 2021 rocking a new ‘cowboy’ look that featured a beard and ponytail.
The wrestling great has opted to bow out following his loss to Oba Femi at SummerSlam
In 2023, Lesnar was named in a bombshell sex trafficking lawsuit against WWE co-founder Vince McMahon, filed by his former employee Janel Grant.
As a result of the lawsuit, he was removed from the WWE roster and wiped from their event plans. He would endure a two-year exile from the organization.
He returned at Summer Slam in August 2025, despite the Grant lawsuit remaining active at the time. He took part in a handful of fights between then and Sunday night, before officially retiring from the sport a year later.
Though he’s best-known for his time in the squared circle, Lesnar also found success away from wrestling. After leaving WWE for the first time in 2004, he attempted to embark on a professional football career.
Lesnar participated in the NFL Scouting Combine at the time but later suffered a broken jaw and hand from a motorcycle accident which put his progress on hold.
Despite the injuries, a number of NFL teams still held an interest in Lesnar and, in July 2004, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings as a defensive tackle. However, his time with the franchise was short-lived and he was eventually released in August.
After his dreams of being on the gridiron came crashing down, he then decided to try his hand – literally – at mixed martial arts.
Lesnar also enjoyed success as an MMA star over the course of his extraordinary career
He began fighting for a promotion known as ‘K-1’, in April 2006, and won his first bout via submission in the first round – bring global attention to his MMA skills.
Lesnar would eventually sign with Dana White’s UFC in 2008, which proved to be a massive success for the organization given his national star power.
Despite losing his first fight, UFC chief White stuck by Lesnar and offered him a multi-fight deal. Again, this proved to a wise call as Lesnar would later become the UFC heavyweight champion following a win over Randy Couture in November 2008.
In total, he had eight UFC fights, winning four of them and losing three – with the final bout being ruled as a no-contest after he tested positive for clomiphene.
