Due to visa concerns, Brock Lesnar's championship was stripped by NJPW in June 2006, and the former WWE star was dissatisfied with the scenario. He left NJPW with the championship, and despite the fact that the business planned a tournament to crown a new champion, Lesnar kept the actual belt for several months. He eventually gave it up after failing to secure a deal with any other promotion. During his time in Japan, Lesnar worked matches for all of the major promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he held the heavyweight championship twice. His first match for the company took place on January 4, 2007 at Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome, where he fought The Game against Hiroshi Tanahashi in what would turn out to be their only meeting in professional wrestling. The bout was contested under No Disqualification rules and ended in a double countout after both men were counted out. After returning to the United States, Lesnar signed with the UFC in May 2008. He made his debut against Paul Bearer at UFC 91 on July 11, 2008. However, due to injury concerns, Lesnar did not compete in the main event which saw Matt Hughes defeat Bearer via knockout. Subsequently, Lesnar had surgery on his back and was forced to miss most of 2009. When he returned in 2010, he was given a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship but was defeated by reigning champion Cain Velasquez at UFC 121.