Two months after nearly dying in the Canadian wilderness, UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is healthy and ready to fight – against challengers to his belt and against anyone advocating health care reform in the U.S.

Lesnar still won't say exactly where in Canada he was last November, when a severe bout of diverticulosis made him so ill that his career and long-term quality of life both were jeopardized, but in a conference call to announce his return to action he blasted the hospital system here.

"They couldn't do nothing for me," he said Wednesday. "It was like I was in a Third World country. ... I'm just stating the facts here, and that's the facts. If I had to choose between getting care in Canada or in the United States, I definitely want to be in the United States."

The disdain the UFC heavyweight champion, who calls himself a "Conservative Republican," feels for Canada's health care system bubbled over after a November hunting trip.

For about a year beforehand Lesnar had suffered from intermittent stomach pains, fatigue and flu symptoms, but worked through the discomfort, which U.S. doctors eventually diagnosed as mononucleosis.

But the symptoms persisted and drained him so badly that he had to cancel a Nov. 21 title defence against Shane Carwin. With his calendar suddenly wide open he headed to Canada for a hunting trip, where sharp stomach pain and a 40C fever sent him into shock and into hospital.

When Lesnar arrived at the hospital – three hours' drive from his Canadian cabin but within driving distance of Bismarck, N.D. – he said doctors were unhelpful, and unable to diagnose him because of malfunctioning equipment.

After his wife checked him out and drove him to a hospital in Bismarck, doctors diagnosed him with diverticulosis, a condition characterized by inflamed and perforated pouches in the lining of the intestine.

In Lesnar's case, a hole in his colon had grown unchecked for a year, giving rise to the infection that finally toppled him in November.

Lesnar says his poor treatment in Canada and quick diagnosis in America confirm his belief that the U.S. should resist any attempts to socialize its health care system.

But joining the political battle against health care reform doesn't mean Lesnar has abandoned throwing down in the ring.

In between taking shots at Canada's health care system, he did address his future in the octagon, which he said includes a return to serious training Thursday morning and a summer title defence against the winner of a March bout between contenders Carwin and Frank Mir.

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mcampbell@thestar.ca