UFC 200 Results: 7 Big Talking Points
Did the event live up to the massive hype?
UFC 200 is officially one for the history books, and despite the turmoil and confusion surrounding the card itself, now that it's reached a conclusion there can be no denying that it was a memorable event.
All five main card fights delivered to an extent, from the opening heavyweight brawl between Cain Velasquez and Travis Browne to the closing main event of Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes and the fascinating Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt exhibition.
The pay-per-view is trending toward being the biggest in UFC history, despite the loss of Jon Jones due to his doping violation, and a large part of that success can be attributed to the returning Brock Lesnar, making his first appearance for UFC since walking away from MMA in 2011 for the much less violent world of WWE.
A stacked card that initially featured three title fights - changed to two after Jones was pulled - UFC 200 was action-packed from start to finish and answered a lot of questions for the promotion going forward. When the crowd started to clear out of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the company had crowned two new champions (one of which is an interim) and awarded a competitor with the biggest single fight purse in the organization's history.
Let's break down UFC 200.
7. The Undercard Delivered
In the current era of a UFC event taking place seemingly every weekend, the undercard fights - once a draw in their own right - have become largely forgotten affairs between unknowns used to help push UFC Fight Pass or lure viewers over to Fox Sports 1.
This was not the case with UFC 200. Several fighters who would previously have been duking it out on the main card were relegated to kicking the event off in a half-full arena, but several of them seemed to use that as motivation to put on an impressive performance.
In what was probably the most anticipated of all the undercard bouts, Joe Lauzon obliterated the normally durable Diego Sanchez, earning a TO stoppage over the exciting star in the first round. The man considered by many to be one of Dana White's personal pet projects, "Super" Sage Northcutt, bot back to his winning ways with a unanimous decision victory over Enrqie Martin, much to the UFC's delight.
Gegard Mousasi continued to make a case for a title shot by stopping Thiago Santos in the first round, Jim Miller TKO'd Japanese legend Takanori Gomi in the opening frame, and Ultimate FIghter winner Kelvin Gastelum decisioned the declining Johny Hendricks, a former welterweight champion whose career seems to have fallen off a cliff.
Perhaps the most surprising result was Julianna Pena's decision win over Cat Zingano. Cat was the woman many analysts predicted would give Ronda Rousey her greatest challenge, but that notion was shattered within 13 seconds of the two meeting inside the octagon. Still, she was attempting to work her way back into title contention and the loss to Pena sends her back to the bottom of the ladder.