It finally happened.
The milestone of UFC 200 arrived. The big show. The big tamale. Think of everything that happened to get us here.
Remember when Ronda Rousey was an assumed lock to headline? Remember when Brock Lesnar was still a pro wrestler, seemingly happy in retirement from his MMA career? Speaking of retirement, remember when Conor McGregor did so as a negotiating tactic and it blew up in his face, costing him his spot on this card?
No one needs reminding on the final, biggest blow, but for completeness we’ll mention the Jon Jones debacle this week, wherein a U.S. Anti-Doping Association flag forced him out of the event. From out of nowhere, in stepped Anderson Silva—Anderson Silva!—to challenge Daniel Cormier and keep the light heavyweight champion from missing UFC 200 altogether.
As Saturday’s historic event roiled and bucked and took large bites of itself, it gradually gave way to a new kind of history.
First and foremost, we had women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate headlining the pay-per-view. Raise your hand if you thought that would happen anytime soon outside of Rousey.
And just think: Tate’s bout against Amanda Nunes was the second women’s headliner of the weekend, following Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s thrilling title defense against a game Claudia Gadelha at Friday’s The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale show.
But back to the big tamale. You also saw the return of Lesnar, who faced maybe the hardest hitter in the UFC or anywhere else in Mark Hunt. Could The Beast really be back?
Since checking off every interesting fight would mean checking off every fight, it’s probably sufficient to note that this was a stacked slate, from Fight Pass to finale. And as always, the final stat lines only reveal so much.
What follows are the real winners and losers from UFC 200. Sit back, relax, forget the sport’s troubles and let this gem sparkle.
For the literal-minded among us, full card results appear on the final slide.