There is a place in fighting folklore reserved solely for Brock Lesnar, the hybrid WWE and UFC colossus. He has forged a bizarre yet unmissable career but ahead of his latest shocking U-turn, doubts remain about his legitimacy.
Can Lesnar take a punch? He is poised for a second UFC stint but, having been paired with knockout artist Mark Hunt, the demons have arisen about whether Lesnar has the mettle for a true fight.
Such doubts first existed in 2007 when, as a 29-year-old, he announced a far-fetched plan to depart WWE and step into the cage. As a muscular heavyweight with superhuman strength, a permanent scowl on his face and a tattooed sword on his chest helped him look the part. Lesnar insisted that he could fight.
Despite losing his UFC debut to Frank Mir, a former world champion with 13 fights under his belt, Lesnar emerged with credit. He had muscled Mir to the ground and only a controversial refereeing decision allowed them to re-stand, before Lesnar met his demise.
It was a sobering moment for the supreme athlete who had already found fame and fortune in the scripted realm of WWE. But it was a moment that first allowed him to answer whether he could truly fight - five months later he handed out an eye-opening thrashing to 43-fight veteran Heath Herring. Perhaps his second career in the UFC was more than a publicity stunt, after all.
His next two outings totally destroyed the notion that he was a stranger in a faraway land. Lesnar's fame afforded him a world title opportunity in just his fourth fight, and his capitalised by knocking out all-time great Randy Couture. A rematch with bitter rival Mir followed, and Lesnar avenged his previous loss with a one-sided beating followed by a nasty post-fight confrontation.
The questions about his suitability re-emerged in an eventual win over Shane Carwin which, six years on, divides opinions about whether Lesnar can fight. Carwin dished out a shellacking in the first round - memories of Lesnar, befuddled with confusion, running from his opponent's punches remain the source of criticism. It is too easily forgotten that, battered and bruised, he completed a mighty comeback in the following round. But this close-call was a sign that the wheels were coming off the runaway train.
Lesnar met his match against Cain Velasquez later in 2010 who matched the WWE superstar's wrestling prowess and battered him inside five minutes. Now an ex-champion, Lesnar began suffering with diverticulitis which warranted the removal of most of his colon. Yet he still rushed back into the cage, and it was no surprise when a kick to his tender stomach led to defeat against Alistair Overeem in his last UFC fight before retirement.
"The last couple fights, from Carwin to Velasquez to Overeem, aren't very fond memories," Lesnar told UFC.com. "In my mind, it was just a struggle to be healthy and a struggle to be in the right mind-set.
"I should have stepped away from the Octagon and let my body and my mind heal and become one again. But that fighter inside of you just doesn't want to quit. And so for years, I pondered it and wondered."
From the outside looking in, an overall 5-3 record inside a three-year span appears like a respectable effort for a rookie who was learning on the job. He re-joined WWE on a notoriously part-time schedule leading to observations that his bank balance had mellowed his willpower.
"Once an athlete, always an athlete," he continued. "Once a competitor, you always want to compete.
"I would hit the focus mitts or get in some grappling over the years, and I never walked out of the gym arena. So any chance I had to feel like an athlete and compete in the workout arena, I did. It's not like I fully stepped away from MMA."
Now 38, six years have passed since his UFC experiment ended yet he has shockingly signed up for one more roll of the dice. His opponent Hunt may be aged 42 but he is ranked No 8 in the heavyweight listings and possesses the sort of fists that have given Lesnar his biggest worries inside the cage.
"I've never run away from any of the opponents [UFC President] Dana White has put in front of me," Lesnar said. "My life has always been about timing, the timing feels right, and everything fell into place."
Logic suggests the American's latest career venture may not be his smartest but no fighter has ever been the master of his own domain quite like Lesnar. Perhaps, after all these years, it's time to accept he does have the stomach for a fight.