Brock Lesnar admits he ‘probably should have got paid more’ in UFC, compares working for Dana White and Vince McMahon

It’s almost impossible to fathom everything Brock Lesnar did in the UFC in less than four years of total time and only eight MMA fights.

A heavyweight champion in just his fourth professional fight, Lesnar quickly became one of the biggest superstars in UFC history. He’s also maintained a strong working relationship with UFC President Dana White, who gave him a chance with only one fight on his resume and brought him him back after a losing debut against Frank Mir in 2008.

“I was so mad at myself,” Lesnar told The Pat McAfee Show about his first loss. “It just built another thing that the people ram down your throat and say you can’t do something. Love those people. Love them. I get goosebumps for that.

“I had a one-fight deal [with the UFC], and I was like, ‘Please give me another shot at this.’ Boom, then it took off. I fought Heath Herring and then I got Randy Couture and won the belt.”

Lesnar went on to compete in some of the biggest pay-per-views in company history, a feat only rivaled by another superstar, Conor McGregor.

“Dana’s all right,” Lesnar said when addressing his relationship with the UFC president. “I’ve got a lot of money from him. I probably should have got paid more, maybe.”

Lesnar was definitely one of the highest-paid fighters on the roster when he was in the UFC, though that honor was more dubious when comparing the salary he earned versus top boxers. That said, he sustained a strong working relationship with White, which wasn’t always the case with his current boss, World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Vince McMahon.

Lesnar famously butted heads with McMahon during his first run in pro wrestling, and that eventually led to his exit from the promotion prior to his run in the UFC.

Asked to compare White and McMahon, Lesnar admitted his tenure with the WWE boss was much different than how he dealt with the UFC president.

“I really can’t compare the two guys,” Lesnar said. “Honestly, my relationship with Vince is so different than it is with Dana over the years. Vince and I have had a love-hate relationship for the last 20 years, but it’s been good. We have a lot of water under the bridge. I have a lot of respect for both.

“But dealing with Dana, it’s just a totally different business approach. I met Vince when I was younger. I look at Vince more as a father figure actually. Because I’ve learned a lot of things from him, and I was able to carry those things over and handle business with Dana. Vince is a self-made person, so is Dana. Took the company and made it public.”

When it comes to his career between real fighting and professional wrestling, Lesnar said there are definitely nerves involved with both, but there’s nothing quite like setting foot in the cage when you’re preparing to do battle with another human being.

“It’s a different game entering the octagon,” Lesnar said. “I’m telling you, you’ve got to be half batsh*t crazy. You do.

“I ordered an octagon so I didn’t have the first jitters of getting in that octagon. I’m like ‘Dana, I want an octagon.’ Boom, ship it off to Brock, so I could fight in it, practice in it. But then you’re in front of 20,000 people and they shut the door, and it’s like, OK, here we go.”

Lesnar has famously said that he rarely watches much television, preferring to spend most of his time with family or working on his massive farm, which leaves scarce time to catch the latest UFC events.

But it also seems like Lesnar at least keeps MMA in his peripheral vision, even after stepping away from the sport to focus on his current career in WWE, although he doesn’t recognize many of the names these days. If there was one thing he’d change about the UFC, it appears he would like to see the promotion do a better job of building more superstars to capture the attention of the audience, like when he was competing.

“I don’t watch a lot of fighting anymore just because there’s so many guys,” Lesnar said. “It’s hard to follow. I wish Dana could figure out how to book things different, and come on and let’s start getting behind some of these guys, and maybe protect somebody for a while so they can become a household name. You can cha-ching them.

“But he’s in the business of putting on super fights every week, and it’s tough to do and it’s tough to stay on top.”