While making media appearances to promote his new Real American Freestyle (RAF) Wrestling venture, Hulk Hogan made a factually inaccurate claim regarding his in-ring history with Brock Lesnar. During a May 1st interview with TMZ Sports, Hogan asserted that he was the first person to wrestle Lesnar after “The Beast Incarnate” initially left the UFC.
Discussing wrestlers with legitimate combat sports backgrounds, Hogan stated, “I’ve been in the ring with some really crazy wrestlers. Like, I got Brock Lesnar right after he left the UFC. I got him first,” according to reports covering the TMZ interview.
However, this claim contradicts established wrestling history. Hogan and Lesnar faced each other only once in a televised WWE match, which occurred on the August 8, 2002, episode of SmackDown – a match Lesnar won decisively via submission. This encounter took place years before Lesnar’s initial departure from WWE in 2004 and his subsequent successful run in the UFC, which ended (the first time) in December 2011. When Lesnar made his highly anticipated return to WWE in April 2012, his first opponent was John Cena at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Hogan, at that time, was working for TNA Wrestling. Hogan and Lesnar were in a segment together on a 2014 episode of Raw.
This is not the first time Hogan has publicly made this specific inaccurate claim about wrestling Lesnar post-UFC. While Hogan remains one of wrestling’s most iconic figures, known for his charismatic promotion, this particular anecdote about being Lesnar’s first post-UFC opponent does not align with historical records. The comment came as part of Hogan’s ongoing efforts to generate publicity for his new RAF Wrestling league alongside Eric Bischoff and Izzy Martinez.
