Former heavyweight champion and WWE superstar Brock Lesnar made a successful return to the UFC Octagon by defeating arguably the most powerful puncher in the history of MMA in Mark Hunt during the co-main event of last night’s (Sat., July 9, 2016) UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The bout was
Former heavyweight champion and WWE superstar Brock Lesnar made a successful return to the UFC Octagon by defeating arguably the most powerful puncher in the history of MMA in Mark Hunt during the co-main event of last night’s (Sat., July 9, 2016) UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The bout was a supposed one-off opportunity from his employers at the WWE, who received a significant promotion for their upcoming SummerSlam PPV as compensation for allowing Lesnar to return while under contract with their company. However, if you listen to Lesnar’s side of the tale in his post-fight press conference after UFC 200, it doesn’t exactly seem like he’s quite ready to hang up the four ounce gloves just yet.
The fan favorite “Beast,” whose initial UFC tenure was cut sort by a devastating bout with diverticulitis, focused on how great he now feels physically, claiming how his renewed ability to train translated into a one-sided win over the No. 8-ranked heavyweight after four-and-a-half years out of the cage in his own personal press conference (transcribed by Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole):
“The whole training camp was different,” Lesnar said. “I mean, my training camps five years ago were pretty depressing camps. I’d train for a couple of days and take five days off; train for three days and take a week off. Come on, I had 12 inches of my colon removed, [and] jumped back into the Octagon three months later. Who does that [expletive]? I’ve been gone five years. I stepped into the Octagon tonight against a guy ranked No. 8 in the world. Write what you want to write, but I think I’m the toughest [expletive] out there. I’m right in the game. I’ve got some work to do, but don’t we all?”
Lesnar was expectedly asked if he would continue fighting, namely in a rematch against former champion Cain Velasquez, who won Lesnar’s belt in 2010 and was victorious over Travis Browne at UFC 200, despite his win’s billing as one-time deal. He responded that while he’d obviously need more training, the fight does interest him:
“Sure, absolutely,” he said when asked if he’d like a rematch with Velasquez. “I trained specifically for Mark Hunt. I trained six weeks for Mark Hunt, but if I decide I’m going to do this a little further, I’d have to sharpen my skills, but yeah.”
As for his most recent win over Hunt, Lesnar stated he was proud of himself for making the hard decision to return and face the top level of UFC heavyweights at his age:
“I’m a 39-year-old man and I’m pretty proud of myself,” Lesnar said. “I’m older…when I decided to make this comeback it was a hard decision. I’m glad I did it. If you don’t stick your neck out, you’re not going to accomplish anything.”
Lesnar was also able to weather the lethal, world-class striking power of “The Super Samoan” to batter the tough-as-nails Aussie with an endless downpour of ground strikes, but wasn’t able to put Hunt away. He cited his ability to take a shot to his doubters, and also praised Hunt for his ability to absorb his blows (via Iole):
“The mystery is gone,” Lesnar said. “I guess I can take a shot … I wanted to finished the fight. The guy’s got a coconut head. … He never knocked the [expletive] out of me, [though], and here I am. I’m happy.”
His all-out attitude significantly bolstered by a return no one thought we’d actually see – and in victory, no less – Lesnar proclaimed that MMA fans may not have seen the last of him:
“Never say never.”
Closing in classic Lesnar style, the hulking star elicited quite a reaction when he said the exact same words that got him into so much trouble after his win over Frank Mir 100 UFC pay-per-views ago:
Now that the dust has settled on last night’s (Sat., July 9, 2016) supposedly historic UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) from the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the MMA world is left to collectively pickup the pieces of an event that promised to be the best of all-time on paper but may have fallen painfully
Now that the dust has settled on last night’s (Sat., July 9, 2016) supposedly historic UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) from the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the MMA world is left to collectively pickup the pieces of an event that promised to be the best of all-time on paper but may have fallen painfully short of those perhaps unattainable expectations.
A big part of that was obviously the last-minute shuffling of the main event after interim light heavyweight champ Jon Jones was unceremoniously forced out of his heated rematch with Daniel Cormier. Middleweight legend Anderson Silva courageously stepped in to replace Jones, but on 48 hours’ notice after gall bladder surgery only two months ago, he was predictably smothered by the bigger, stronger wrestler in ‘DC,’ who didn’t earn himself any new fans by laying on Silva for the vast majority of their 15-minute bout.
Neither can be blamed for the entire card’s performance based on the circumstances, but the result was simply a microcosm of an event that was built up to unachievable levels. Yes, Brock Lesnar returned to the Octagon with a successful wrestling-based decision win over Mark Hunt in the co-main. Former heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez also returned from yet another year off to destroy Travis Browne on the main card’s opening bout, an impressive win that got lost in the mix of hype and expectation. He looked amazing. When healthy and on point, Velasquez has a pinpoint striking game that mixes speed, precision, and power like few in MMA history can claim.
But by the time Amanda Nunes absolutely dominated Miesha Tate in a strangely booked main event, a lot of the Vegas crowd had filled out onto the Strip after a night of exhausting their vocal chords booing an event they no doubt paid vast amounts of money to witness live. Maybe the hype just couldn’t be lived up to in this instance, but then again, the UFC created it as well.
What was your opinion on the supposed ‘biggest UFC ever?’ Did it even come close to living up to the massive expectation?
The night we’d all waited so patiently for finally arrived yesterday (Saturday July 9, 2016) as UFC 200 went down in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The blockbuster event was rightfully promoted as the biggest UFC card of all time, and it certainly had the potential to be just that. Perhaps in terms
The night we’d all waited so patiently for finally arrived yesterday (Saturday July 9, 2016) as UFC 200 went down in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The blockbuster event was rightfully promoted as the biggest UFC card of all time, and it certainly had the potential to be just that. Perhaps in terms of pay-per-view buys it will have been, but outside of the UFC brass and fighters getting PPV cuts those numbers mean little. In measurement of excitement there was plenty on the card, but arguably the preliminary segment had the best fights.
So what exactly happened at UFC 200? Three straight finishes on the Fight Pass prelims got the card off to a great start but, although it’s not all about stoppages, that trio of TKO’s in the opening section of the event was not matched in total by the following nine fights on FOX and PPV. A technical knockout for Cain Velasquez and main event submission by Amanda Nunes on Miesha Tate were the only finishes from the entire card after the Fight Pass prelims, FS1 saw four straight decisions.
Jose Aldo lands a flying knee against Frankie Edgar before winning the interim title by way of decision…
But hey, we aren’t ‘just bleed’ fans, we appreciate a good technical scrap and also respect the fact that finishes are of course entertaining, but not decisive in whether or not a card is any good or not. Let’s take a look at the biggest wins and losses at UFC 200, what they mean for their respective divisions and how the card flowed considering its monumental amount of hype, and more.
Cormier vs. Silva
UFC light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier faced Anderson Silva in a very short notice fight at UFC 200. After the sensational failed drug test saga involving Jon Jones was announced mid-week, the interim champ was removed from the card, and in doing so hogged a lot of media attention for all the wrong reasons. The stress that Daniel Cormier was put under for that 24 hours between Jones being pulled and Silva being signed could well have hindered his performance.
As it was he won the fight, Silva once again proved the size of his heart and bravery coming in to face the much heavier man with no camp to prepare. I don’t think either man loses stock from this fight, that said it wasn’t the burner many of us had hoped for, what’s next for both men? Cormier needs to get booked against someone not named Jon Jones, for ‘The Spider’ maybe light-heavyweight is a good fit?
Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt
Another fight that maybe didn’t live up to our high expectations, but was a surprise. Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar returned to face a serious knockout artist after five years away from MMA. What’s even more impressive is that Hunt was not able to get going in this fight, his punches had little effect on Lesnar who managed to wrestle his way to a decision victory.
Stock lost/gained is as follows; Lesnar, should he choose to fight again, would probably have the door open to any fight he wants. Yes, he’s technically not ranked and has no recent history aside from Hunt, but money talks. As far as ‘The Super Samoan’ is concerned, and it truly pains me to say this, but the loss to Lesnar puts a huge dent in his title aspirations, although if anyone can turn it around in five fights its him.
Amanda Nunes vs. Miesha Tate
Once again the women’s bantamweight title has changed hands, this time it sits around the waist of Amanda Nunes after UFC 200. The trend of failed first title defenses continues, and the story of this fight was ‘Cupcake’ getting pretty much destroyed from second one. Nunes connected with heavy strikes, bloodying Tate from the jump and then sinking in a tight choke to end the fight in the first round.
To an extent it looked like Tate was taking too many chances in the stand up, but Nunes was without doubt on fire in the UFC 200 main event. Great performance and now a potential first defense with Juliana Pena has been set up. Stock lost goes to Tate in this one, no shame in losing but she didn’t really get anything going in this fight in the way of offense or defense. For Nunes, well, that gold belt says it all, now she just has to try and avoid the curse from the last two champs.
Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar
Frankie Edgar just can’t catch a break, he was without doubt the most deserving man to face Conor McGregor for the featherweight belt, but circumstances just did not permit. Instead taking on Jose Aldo for the junior belt, much like in their first fight, ‘The Answer’ found himself just beaten to the punch in the majority of exchanges. Looking a little more like his former self, Aldo landed some tidy flying techniques and scored a decision win after five solid rounds.
Does it tell you something when nobody gets a ‘fight of the night’ bonus? Read in to that how you will, and arguably Aldo/Edgar 2 had the prerequisite amount of fireworks to at least be front runner for that $50K windfall. What’s next? Once again Edgar finds himself up sh*t creek, and Aldo has taken his paddle for a second time. He’ll keep fighting, and probably winning, but while Aldo is now aligned for a rematch with McGregor, it’s going to be hard going for ‘The Answer’ trying to get another title shot after this loss. For the Brazilian, it’s McGregor or bust.
Jul 9, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Joe Lauzon (blue gloves) punches Diego Sanchez (red gloves) during UFC 200 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports
Joe Lauzon, Diego Sanchez, Cain Velasquez and Travis Browne
Joe Lauzon and Cain Velasquez scored great stoppage victories in their bouts with Diego Sanchez and Travis Browne respectively, leading to similar questions for both sets of winners and losers. For ‘Hapa’ and ‘The Dream’ it’s another loss to add to a growing tally, and very possibly an indicator as to their future hopes. Sanchez has been in way too many wars now, and that chin is just not able to hold up to the punishment anymore. Perhaps it’s time for retirement for Sanchez, now a 37-fight veteran, or maybe a good vacation and changes in camps could see him rise to another title shot.
Very similar questions for Browne, although he only has four losses, he is surely thinking about where his future in the division will be. After beating Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett, many felt ‘Hapa’ would be primed for title glory, but shortcomings against Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum and now Velasquez could indicate that a title fight is simply too far out of reach. For the ex-champion ‘CV’ it was a strong showing, but he needs at least one more fight without injury before being considered in the title mix. For Lauzon, in a busy lightweight division, two-three more of the same kind of bonus-winning stoppages could see him in a title fight.
UFC 200
Did it deliver? in terms of anticipation met by actual excitement during the fights, well, no. Not really, and it’s sad to say that, but the main card just didn’t have the pop we all had wished for. A historic event no doubt, but the last-minute loss of Jon Jones, the many decisions that became somewhat harder to watch as the night went on, and an overall feeling of the event just seemed off.
That said, we saw a new champion at women’s 135, Aldo with a belt around his waist again, former champions bouncing back and heavy favorites taking knocks.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar made a successful return to the octagon at UFC 200 last night (Saturday July 9, 2016) and it was against stacked odds. Facing former K-1 champion and the consensus hardest puncher in mixed martial arts today in Mark Hunt, Lesnar had quite the mountain to climb on the historic
Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar made a successful return to the octagon at UFC 200 last night (Saturday July 9, 2016) and it was against stacked odds. Facing former K-1 champion and the consensus hardest puncher in mixed martial arts today in Mark Hunt, Lesnar had quite the mountain to climb on the historic card in Las Vegas. If there’s one thing we all know by now it’s that odds are little more than numbers on paper, and sometimes size and strength is what’s needed to win a fight.
‘The Beast’ returned on the anniversary of his infamous UFC 100 bout with Frank Mir determined to win, and managed to sack ‘The Super Samoan’ for the most part of their fight. Taking a clean sweep of 29-27 from all three judges after the dust had settled, Lesnar’s big comeback was perhaps not as ill fated as many of us had predicted.
Although the fight was deemed a ‘one off’ opportunity by the WWE, it’s clear that they and the UFC have a good thing going right now. The pro wrestling’s online network heavily advertised the UFC this week, and in turn the UFC aired promos for the WWE during their broadcast last night. What’s to say that another MMA fight isn’t on the horizon for Brock Lesnar?
One potential opponent and fellow former heavyweight boss Junior dos Santos threw his name in the hat during the aftermath of Lesnar’s decision win over Hunt. Check out what ‘Cigano’ posted on Twitter:
After serving as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Season 3, Lesnar and ‘JDS’ were scheduled to meet at UFC 131. When diverticulitis struck the WWE superstar Shane Carwin stepped in and took a harrowing beating from dos Santos. If there is hope of another Brock Lesnar UFC fight, or even a run at the title, would a fight with ‘Cigano’ be plausible?
It’s finally here, after months of hype and drawn out anticipation, UFC 200 fight day has arrived. What a crazy night of fights we have to look forward to, as Las Vegas is buzzing and all the talking is very nearly done. In the main event of the evening we have Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier
It’s finally here, after months of hype and drawn out anticipation, UFC 200 fight day has arrived. What a crazy night of fights we have to look forward to, as Las Vegas is buzzing and all the talking is very nearly done. In the main event of the evening we have Jon Jones vs. Daniel CormierBrock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes following a highly unexpected mid-week shuffle. It was announced Wednesday (July 6) that ‘Bones’ had failed a drug test and was to be removed from the landmark #200 pay-per-view card.
The heavyweight collision between Mark Hunt and Brock Lesnar was temporarily moved up to the main event slot, before Tate vs. Nunes sent them packing back to the second fiddle fight. So the most historic card in UFC history is lead in to the July 9 spotlight, after an insane fight week packed with three events, by the women’s bantamweight championship bout. Can anyone else smell a trilogy maker with Ronda Rousey here?
‘Cupcake’ faces a very fierce contender in Amanda Nunes, but does she offer anything more difficult to deal with than Holly Holm? ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ is a world class boxer and kickboxer, and Tate was able to avoid the devastating power and choke Holm out cold at UFC 195. The same could potentially be said about Mark Hunt vs. Brock Lesnar, although the former heavyweight champion is a huge man with explosive power.
‘The Super Samoan’ spoke with Fight Network in a last-minute interview last night, saying he still plans on knocking Lesnar out, even though he feels the drug testing may have been a bit loose around the WWE star: “He’s a big guy, I’m not even sure how he made 265 pounds. Did they drug test him? He’s a beginner to me, I still plan on knocking him out.”
As usual, Mark Hunt with not a great deal to say, but the knowledge that his powerful fists can do that for him. During her weigh-ins interview with Joe Rogan, Tate declared she plans on removing part of Nunes’ body on fight night, but rest easy, she only meant her heart:
When UFC President Dana White announced late last night (July 6, 2016) that Jon Jones had been pulled from his highly-anticipated main event rematch with Daniel Cormier just days before UFC 200 (July 9, 2016) due to a potential anti-doping violation, Brock Lesnar hadn’t yet been made aware that his scheduled co-main event bout with
When UFC President Dana White announced late last night (July 6, 2016) that Jon Jones had been pulled from his highly-anticipated main event rematch with Daniel Cormier just days before UFC 200 (July 9, 2016) due to a potential anti-doping violation, Brock Lesnar hadn’t yet been made aware that his scheduled co-main event bout with Mark Hunt had been promoted to main event status.
When he was finally made aware of the situation, Lesnar said that it was ‘unprofessional’ of Jones. The former heavyweight champion also expressed his disappointment for Cormier, who has trained long and hard to get his revenge on “Bones”:
“It’s unfortunate for DC, I guess,” Lesnar told MMAFighting.com. “I feel a little bad for DC. Guys go hard, they go through training camps and put lots of time in and that’s where DC really gets the short end of the stick. It’s really unprofessional of anybody of this caliber when something like that happens.”
Ironically, Lesnar, who headlined the massive UFC 100 card back in 2009, will now headline UFC 200 in his return after nearly five years away from fighting. Despite now being faced with the daunting task of carrying the landmark event on his shoulders, Lesnar doesn’t appear to be worried:
“It’s unfortunate,” Lesnar said of Jones. “It’s unprofessional. That’s just what it is. What else can I say? Merry Christmas to Brock Lesnar.”
“I’ve been in the business long enough — the entertainment industry, the fight game — the show still goes on,” Lesnar said. “Regardless of where I’m at on the card, the show is gonna happen. I’m just thankful that I got through training camp healthy and I’m here. Merry Christmas to Brock Lesnar.”
Do you expect UFC 200 to take a hit in terms of pay-per-view buys with Jones now off the card?
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