Brock’s power and efficiency
Former UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is just a physical specimen to watch. His wrestling ability is second to none. Many were wondering why he was out of the MMA game for so long. Well now we know that his presence in UFC 200 kept fan interested in his big return to the octagon. He faced top 10 fighter Mark Hunt, who is known for many of his stand up battles throughout his career. Hunt showed he was prepared against Lesnar’s takedowns, but the former WWE wrestler brute force alone was too much for the kickboxer. Lesnar was never in trouble. He was able to dictate the rhythm during all fifteen minutes of the fight. Hunt managed to hold out until the end, but it was just a disappointing loss for the Samoan.
The question now stands if this was an one and out fight for Lesnar. If the UFC and Lesnar can find an even ground to work on for the future, than a revenge fight between him and former champion Cain Velasquez, who won by TKO against Travis Browne earlier in the night, could be a moneymaker.
What was supposed to happen happened
No miracle was to be expected from legendary fighter Anderson Silva for his last minute fight against Light-Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. With a 48 hours notice, Silva stepped to take Jon Jones place to turn the championship main-event into a non-title bout reduced to third-to-last in the fightcard. Jones failed a drug test in June and got suspended for two years. What’s suprising about Silva taking this fight is the fact he just had an operation to remove his gallbladder less than two month ago. Despite the circumstances and the fact he was conceding twenty pounds to his adversary, Silva was still able to give Cormier some scares in the kickboxing department. The champion’s wrestling was too much for the Brazilian though. The fight ended in a majority decision for Cormier.
Sure, the fight was not the one fans were craving to see, but it left most of them in even more discontent from Cormier’s performance. He got booed for the majority of the fight, since he wasn’t exchanging punches with Silva. From his standpoint though, there was no risk to take in that fight. And so he followed through with the sure win and no loss of value to his status as champion. Despite the loss, Silva will mostly take credit for allowing Cormier to fight in the card and receive his pay.
Re-energized Aldo
There was a lot of questions about how Jose Aldo would bounce back from is devastatingly short loss at the hands of Conor McGregor a few month ago. He was facing a Frankie Edgar for the interim Featherweight title. Edgar won his last five combat against top 10 caliber opponents, so his stock was sky high. In fact, last time Edgar lost a fight was against Aldo back in February 2013. Their initial fight was a tight decision win for the Brazilian. It was all of the same at UFC 200. It again finished in an too-close-to-call unanimous decision for Aldo.
Despite the fight being close as it is, Aldo may have gave his best performance in a while, and that’s saying much for Edgar as well. Aldo showed off his solid chin and his strong, crisp and precise attacks during all five rounds. His next step should be a a rematch with current champ Conor McGregor. And let’s just say that a lot of ink is going to be spilled going into it.