Brock Lesnar will come back in summer

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UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, in his first interview since suffering through a major intestinal infection, told a national television audience today that he’s experienced ‘a miracle’ recovery and is ready to fight again in the summer.

Lesnar, UFC President Dana White said, will fight the winner of an interim heavyweight title fight between Shane Carwin and Frank Mir March 27 in Newark, N.J.

‘There’s no signs of any problem with my stomach, I had another CT scan [Tuesday] just to be sure,’ Lesnar said.

Lesnar (4-1), who last fought by pummeling Mir at UFC 100 in July, recounted a harrowing six-month ordeal that caused him to pull out of two fights and spend many weeks resting at home and inside hospitals in Canada and Bismarck, N.D.

He said after an initial diagnosis of mononucleosis, he went hunting in Canada and awoke one morning with ‘severe stomach pain,’ going into shock with a 104-degree temperature. He said he was then diagnosed with the severe intestinal infection.

‘I had a hole in my stomach,’ he told ESPN, adding that doctors told him they were prepared to conduct an operation that would force him to wear a colostomy bag and end his fighting career. ‘But I started to heal in the eight-hour [pre-surgery] mark and avoided surgery.’

He said he lost 40 pounds, however, relying on intravenous feeding.

‘I would be out, I didn’t know how long, but I didn’t want surgery,’ he said.

White said Lesnar relied on holistic medicine and ate healthy, and Lesnar said he ultimately regained 30 pounds and went for a Jan. 5 checkup that found his stomach was fine.

‘It’s been a crazy ride,’ White said.

‘The doctors say there’s no risk to my career; I believe the mind is a powerful thing,’ Lesnar said. ‘When you have life taken away, laying in a hospital bed, to sit there not having any control of anything ... I’ve always been in control.’

Lesnar then reminded White he is the UFC heavyweight champion, and expressed enthusiasm about fighting again, most likely against the Mir-Carwin winner. Should any problem occur, White said he would have Lesnar make his next title defense against the winner of next month’s Cain Velasquez-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fight.

-- Lance Pugmire