UFC 200 was the biggest card in mixed martial arts history and despite a week of drama, the action in the cage at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was memorable. The promotion even busted out a special golden canvas for the historic event.
Here’s what happened…
‘The Beast’ is back!
Whenever Brock Lesnar does anything it’s a spectacle. The former UFC heavyweight champion hadn’t fought since 2011 but he dominated seasoned veteran Mark Hunt at UFC 200.
In the opening round we saw the Lesnar of old. Brute force and imposing grappling. He took Hunt to the ground and battered him with punches. He paced himself in the second but dominated again in the third to win a unanimous decision.
Lesnar, a resident of Saskatchewan, represented Canada in the fight. Like many Canadians, Lesnar was humble and gracious in victory. With the recent shootings in Dallas on many people’s minds, Lesnar also made sure to give praise to the men and women in uniform in the United States.
We have a new champ
Amanda Nunes pulled off the upset, breaking Miesha Tate’s nose and stunning her with a series of punches before locking in a rear-naked choke and forcing a tap to become the new UFC women’s bantamweight champion.
Not only was it an virtuoso performance from Nunes but she made history on a couple fronts becoming the first openly gay UFC champion and the first women’s champion from Brazil. At the post-fight press conference, she said both things were important to her.
Cormier wins the fight; Silva wins the crowd
It wasn’t the former UFC champion Daniel Cormier had envisioned fighting at UFC 200, but it was a different future Hall of Famer and it was on extremely short notice. Cormier played it safe and overpowered Anderson Silva en route to a three-round unanimous decision victory.
The crowd booed whenever Cormier, a former Olympic wrestler, took the fight to the ground. In the third and final round, the crowd even chanted “Stand them up! Stand them up!” The audience got its wish and Silva gave them some drama on the feet. He appeared to hurt Cormier with a kick to the body in the final minute but Cormier held on for the win.
Silva underwent successful surgery to remove his gallbladder in May after the 41-year-old was forced to withdraw from a scheduled UFC 198 bout with Uriah Hall.
The respect shown between Cormier and Silva was in stark contract to what we’ve seen with Cormier and Jon Jones.
Aldo wins interim UFC featherweight title
If you like high-level MMA, Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar might have been the fight you were most looking forward to at UFC 200. These two all-time greats went toe-to-toe for five rounds in 2013 and they put on another tremendous 25-minutes show Saturday.
Aldo was coming off a devastating one-punch knockout loss to Conor McGregor and lost his belt in December but the Brazilian performed like his old self en route to winning a unanimous decision and the interim UFC featherweight title.
Edgar was the more active fighter in terms of movement, but Aldo was more efficient for the majority of the fight. Aldo’s takedown defence was pristine, his counter punches crisp. Edgar’s nickname is “The Answer” but he was unable to solve Aldo, as was the case when they met three years ago.
Midway through the fifth round, Edgar became the first fighter in UFC history to log more than six hours of total time in the Octagon.
Aldo’s attention now turns back to McGregor, who was cageside watching.
McGregor will fight Aldo for the unified title after McGregor’s rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202 on Aug. 20, UFC president Dana White confirmed after the event.
Velasquez puts on striking clinic
As Joe Rogan described it: “It was a classic Cain Velasquez beat down.” The former heavyweight champion picked Travis Browne apart to earn up a first-round TKO victory in the opening bout on the pay-per-view portion of UFC 200.
The was the first time since 2008 that Velasquez wasn’t featured in a main or co-main event.
Pena moves closer to a title shot
Cat Zingano started out strong in this women’s bantamweight bout yet Julianna Pena finished stronger. Pena won a unanimous decision in the featured preliminary bout Saturday and moved closer to a title shot with the victory.
Zingano, who holds wins over both Amanda Nunes and Miesha Tate, hadn’t fought since her 14-second loss to Ronda Rousey last February.
Gastelum earns biggest win of his career
Johny Hendricks was the only fighter at UFC 200 to miss weight and it appeared to have a significant impact in his fight with Kelvin Gastelum. The former welterweight champion faded in the second half and Gastelum got the unanimous decision.
It was a fan friendly scrap but Hendricks has lost consecutive fights for the first time in his career and three of his last four overall.
Dillashaw gets his revenge
T.J. Dillashaw lost a three-round split decision to Raphael Assuncao in Brazil nearly three years ago. The former UFC bantamweight champion was able to avenge that loss Saturday with a unanimous decision victory. This was Assuncao’s first fight in nearly two years. He had been out due to various injuries and had won seven in a row prior to UFC 200.
The win should put Dillashaw in line to fight Dominick Cruz for the title. Cruz doesn’t currently have an opponent lined up and the two fought to a close split decision in January.
Northcutt guts out a victory
Sage Northcutt is the youngest fighter currently on the UFC roster at age 20. He’s also one of the most explosive athletes in the promotion. And since he is still very green in MMA he had to rely on that athleticism against Enrique Marin.
Northcutt won a unanimous decision and rebounded from his first career loss.
Although his ground game was exposed, Northcutt showed resolve and heart as he gutted his way out of several submission attempts. At one point midway through the second round Marin locked in a tight armbar and the fight looked to be over. Northcutt managed to escape. He also got out of a kimura attempt late in the second.
Lauzon blitzes Sanchez
The matchup between fan favourites Diego Sanchez and Joe Lauzon was expected to be a three-round war but Lauzon had other plans. The TUF 5 veteran stopped the TUF 1 winner with strikes early in the first round. In fact Lauzon landed 35 of 42 strike attempts, which amounts to an 82 per cent success rate. Another troubling stat is that Sanchez has now absorbed 1,077 head strikes in his UFC career, which is more than any other active fighter on the UFC roster.
The fight lasted just 86 seconds.
Mousasi shuts Santos’ lights off
Anyone who thought Thiago Santos was going to upset Gegard Mousasi *slowly, sheepishly raises hand* was very incorrect. Mousasi picked up a huge first-round knockout of the rising Brazilian talent.
Mousasi stung Santos midway through the opening round with a series of punches and the fight went to the ground. As Santos worked back to his feet, Mousasi sent him flying with an uppercut.
Mousasi improved to 39–6–2 as a pro and 6-3 in the UFC. Santos had his impressive four-fight winning streak snapped.
Miller makes quick work of Gomi
Jim Miller made former Pride champion Takanori Gomi look like an amateur in the opening bout at UFC 200, stopping the Japanese star by TKO in the first round of their lightweight bout.
Miller avoided the first three-fight losing streak of his career, while Gomi is now on the first three-fight losing streak of his career. Gomi has lost nine of his last 15 fights dating back to 2008. Miller was one of two fighters competing at UFC 200 that also competed at UFC 100. Brock Lesnar was the other.
Official UFC 200 results…
MAIN CARD
— Amanda Nunes def. Miesha Tate by submission
— Brock Lesnar def. Mark Hunt by unanimous decision
— Daniel Cormier def. Anderson Silva by unanimous decision
— Jose Aldo def. Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision
— Cain Velasquez def. Travis Browne by TKO
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Julianna Pena def. Cat Zingano by unanimous decision
— Kelvin Gastelum def. Johny Hendricks by unanimous decision
— T.J. Dillashaw def. Raphael Assuncao by unanimous decision
— Sage Northcutt def. Enrique Marin by unanimous decision
— Joe Lauzon def. Diego Sanchez by TKO
— Gegard Mousasi def. Thiago Santos by TKO
— Jim Miller def. Takanori Gomi by TKO
