Predicting Brock Lesnar's WWE and UFC Career over the Next Year

On Monday's episode of Raw, WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar and his advocate, Paul Heyman, told general manager Kurt Angle that if The Beast doesn't retain his title at the 2017 edition of SummerSlam, he's walking away from the company.

After watching light heavyweight champion Jon Jones call out Lesnar at the conclusion of UFC 214, the WWE Universe is starting to wonder how much time The Beast has left and if he really is going to step foot inside an Octagon again.

Rumors swirled that Lesnar was looking to return to UFC, whether it was to fight again or to use the possibility of an MMA comeback as leverage in contract discussions with WWE.

Playing into the rumors would be a perfect way to instill some reality into the storyline, so Lesnar must lose at SummerSlam.

Regardless of which of the other three Superstars walks out of the pay-per-view with the Universal Championship, it's imperative it isn't Lesnar.

Once he is written out of storylines, his training for a return to the UFC can begin. Just as Lesnar fought Mark Hunt while still under contract with WWE, he can do the same against Jones.

Lesnar squaring off against Jones would likely be the biggest MMA fight in history and would be a massive mainstream draw for the UFC. In turn, The Beast's aura would continue to grow exponentially and his name appeal would skyrocket again.

The key will be timing, though.

According to MMAjunkie, UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky said Lesnar would still have more than six months remaining on his suspension when he re-enters the USADA drug-testing pool, which Novitzky claims hasn't happened yet.

If Lesnar were to begin his testing as soon as possible, or if he has already started and it hasn't been reported yet, he would likely be able to fight again by early 2018.

The several months of build and anticipation to a potential battle between Jones and Lesnar would be a marketing dream for UFC and a no-brainer for both men.

While some pundits will say a loss would impact the number of crossovers and casual fans Lesnar would bring to the WWE, the mere exposure of being on one of the highest selling PPV cards in UFC history would be enough for WWE to reap major residual effects.

Add in Lesnar likely appearing days after the superfight on WWE programming, and the momentum The Beast would create in UFC would inevitably carry over into the wrestling business.

Once back in WWE, Lesnar must be portrayed as an unstoppable force. With the chance that the fight against Jones could happen before WrestleMania 34, Lesnar should return to the company and become the No. 1 contender before challenging for the Universal Championship at WWE's biggest show of the year.

With all of the momentum on Lesnar's side and his stock as high as it may ever be, that is when WWE should use him to put over another Superstar and cement their legacy.

There are several names who would be worthy of such an honor, but with the company's dedication to Roman Reigns and his history with Lesnar, the matchup is WWE Creative's perfect scenario.

As much as the majority of fans would hate it, Lesnar should take the clean loss to Reigns at WrestleMania 34 after fighting Jones in the UFC.

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