Report: Lesnar hasn't re-enrolled in USADA testing pool

Pump the brakes on Brock Lesnar's rumored return to the UFC.

Contrary to recent reports, the former heavyweight champion has not re-entered the USADA's testing pool for a potential return to the Octagon, UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky told MMAjunkie's John Morgan on Wednesday.

"(Lesnar) is not currently enrolled in the USADA testing pool, nor has there been any inquiry on his part to do so," Novitzky said.

The 40-year-old removed himself from the anti-doping agency's testing pool when he retired in February, thereby putting his one-year ban retroactive to July 2016 on ice. Rumblings of a targeted UFC return at Madison Square Garden in November recently arose, although USADA protocol would have required Lesnar to serve the remaining five months on his suspension, thereby keeping him out of action until December at the earliest.

Lesnar tested positive for estrogen blockers around the time of his bout with Mark Hunt at UFC 200, which was later overturned from a unanimous decision win to a no-contest. In addition to the one-year ban and the lost win, he was ordered to relinquish 10 percent of his $2.5-million purse - a UFC record payout at the time.

The bout ended Lesnar's near-five-year retirement from MMA, during which he competed in the WWE. He held the UFC heavyweight crown from 2008-10 and successfully defended it twice. His professional MMA record sits at 5-3.