Who will UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar fight in his return to the Octagon?

In October 2010, Brock Lesnar announced that he would be taking a second hiatus from the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) due to a relapse of diverticulitis.
What was the fallout? Oh, nothing major.
Shane Carwin had to fill in for Lesnar in the Ultimate Fighter (TUF) finale against Junior dos Santos, resulting in a cosmetic makeover for Carwin that was not for the better. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has suffered major pay-per-view (PPV) losses. The heavyweight division is in disarray, causing many to believe that the UFC needs to sign former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem.
You can hate Lesnar all you want. Call him an over-hyped never-was with no stand-up game. Call him names (though you'd never say any of it to his face). Regardless of how you feel about the man, he was making the UFC a ton of money.
If you think Dana White and his band of merry men are not frothing at the mouth at the idea of Lesnar's comeback, you're out of your mind.
The real questions are: When and where?

According to Uncle Dana, Lesnar is 100-percent recovered from his surgery and starting to train again. He shared the update with MMA Fighting on Friday (Sept. 2, 2011).

"The guy's been working up on a farm up in Canada all summer," White said of Lesnar. "He's 100 percent. His surgery went great, he's 100 percent, he's getting back into training in the next couple of weeks."No formal announcement has been made as to the actual date of Lesnar's next fight, or as to his opponent may end up being. There has been speculation.

The prevalent rumors have Lesnar making his triumphant return either on the New Year's show (event information yet to be made public), or on a card sometime in the month of January, 2012.
As for who Lesnar will face, some pundits have voiced their belief that it will take place against Frank Mir in a rubber-match. Others have speculated that Brock may end up being the one-man welcome party for Alistair Overeem after the UFC finally signs him. "Big Nog" Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who is coming off an impressive recent win over Brendan Schaub at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has requested to be the man that Lesnar faces once he is ready to fight again.



by Kevin Haggerty