When could a Jon Jones vs Brock Lesnar superfight actually take place?

Ever since the buildup to UFC 214 right until the post-fight speech of Jon Jones where he called out Brock Lesnar, fans have been dying to see the two fighters lock horns in a superfight.

With both of them expressing an interest to face each other, the combat world is already talking up the possibility of what would be yet another dream bout in the money fight era.

Jones (23-1 record in MMA) solidified himself as the promotion's number two current biggest draw after Conor McGregor with UFC 214 expected to surpass 1m pay-per-view buys.

WWE's Lesnar (5-3-1 record in MMA) on the other hand, is still a huge draw himself at 40 years of age and brings a huge following whenever he participates in the octagon.

But when could this superfight actually take place if all parties came to an agreement? The answer is likely to be in a year's time.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer, Lesnar, the current WWE Universal champion, is still contracted to the pro wrestling company until April 2018 with both parties having an option for a renewal.

Even with his ongoing contract though, WWE chairman Vince McMahon allowed "The Beast" to return to the octagon last year to face Mark Hunt at UFC 200 in June 2016 in what turned out to be a winning return.

However, Lesnar's victory over Hunt was overturned after he tested positive twice for a banned substance called clomiphene and was given a one-year suspension by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

The Minnesota native then reportedly retired from the UFC for a second time in February, meaning that his suspension was frozen as he was no longer in the USADA drug testing pool as per the company's policy.

So in order for him to be cleared to fight in the UFC, Lesnar would have to undergo more than six months of clean drug testing under USADA.

However, he would not be able to fight straight away either as the 40-year-old is expected to play a huge role in WWE's flagship show, Wrestlemania which takes place in early April.

With Lesnar likely requiring a two-month fight camp to prepare for any future contest, it seems likely that the earliest any return bout can occur will be in June 2018, which will be all the more possible if he does not renew his WWE contract.

As for Jones, waiting eight months without defending the title is not ideal, so it's highly probable that the 30-year-old will end up defending his title against the likes of light heavyweight contenders Alexander Gustafsson or Volkan Oezdemir in the meantime.