NUNES, LESNAR, CORMIER, ALDO AND VELASQUEZ DOMINATE FOR UFC 200 PPV AT TMOBILE ARENA

Photo by J.Pardo

The main event of the evening for the star-studded 4th of July week UFC 200 event featured Miesha Tate defending her Women’s 135lbs belt against challenger, Amanda Nunes in the night’s main event. ‎Tate started off with a wrestling-minded pace in Round 1 shooting in for two takedowns which both came up short in the opening minute of the stanza. Nunes, patiently stuffed the first shot and sprawled on the second one and then countered with some big bombs once she found her range. The brilliant Brazilian cut off the cage and landed two back-to-back overhand rights on the defending champion. The punches both crash landed on the side of the head of the Las Vegas resident putting her on wobbly legs. She retreated as Nunes hunted her down from every corner of the Octagon, tagging her with blow after blow, trapping Tate along the cage wall rocking her with a solid combination. The Tacoma, Washington native absorbed the punishment and stumbled backwards, running into the fence as she fell unto her seat. The challenger pounced on her with a few standing to ground strikes as Tate desperately tried to fish for a single leg or move her head left and right trying to dodge the punches. Nunes alertly switched gears and applied top control holding Tate down hooking her arm around her and applying pressure with her hips then punching Tate with the free hand. This opened up ‘Cupcake’ Tate just enough for Nunes to transition to her back. Once Nunes sunk her hooks into the former Strikeforce champion, she attacked her back wrapping up a rear naked choke along the fence. As soon as the forearm slipped under the chin, Miesha Tate held on for a few seconds then quickly tapped to the choke.

The submission victory at (3:16) of Round 1 over the 3 to 1 betting favorite granted A‎manda Nunes her first world title and made UFC history as the first openly gay champion. During the post-fight interview Miesha Tate thanked her fans and promised to be back stronger from the adversity just like she has done in the past. Nunes was grateful to UFC management for the opportunity, accepted all comers and celebrated for her country since she is now the only other Brazilian champion besides Jose Aldo in all division’s of the UFC.

‎LESNAR TRIUMPHANT IN RETURN TO THE OCTAGON WITH HARD EARNED POINTS WIN

Lesnar started off the bout switching stances, popping his jab from the outside as he traded from orthodox back to south paw stance. At about the halfway point he shot in on a single leg, came up short then used an ankle pick to close distance and get the takedown on Mark Hunt. The ‘Super Samoan’ Hunt managed to return to his feet but with about two minutes left the Minnesota University alum shot in again and got another takedown on his foe. From there he held him down with one arm while he controlled him from the top and landed some wicked ground and pound, the left hooks rattled Hunt’s head who quickly turned and got back to his feet. The former UFC heavyweight champion shot in from the outside as Hunt barely missed with a left uppercut, and Lesnar got the double leg takedown driving deep, then dumped him on his back and proceeded to full mount. The Division 1 All-American snuck in some ground and pound during the last few seconds as the round came to a close.

Going into Round 2, Lesnar looked tired and was very flat footed for the first 2 minutes as he again alternated between stances avoiding Hunt’s big overhand right. At the 3 minute mark he dropped levels for a single leg takedown but came up short as Hunt side stepped and then scooted out of the way of another shot by Lesnar immediately thereafter. With roughly two minutes left, Hunt missed with a big overhand right as Lesnar went for another shot and came up short. For the last minute Lesnar back stepped along the cage wall, constantly leaning towards his left dangerously in the line of fire of Hunt’s overhand right which now Hunt was telegraphing so Lesnar shot in for a takedown, got stuffed but used a body lock to keep his man along the cage wall as the round ended cancelling any ‘Super Samoan’ offense.

‎Heading into round 3, Lesnar got a takedown early in the first minute. The Canada resident worked out of Hunt’s half guard for the next few minutes landing some mean left hooks then tried to pass to full mount. He didn’t get it as Hunt was trapped under him for a moment so Lesnar landed some more left hooks to open him up. Hunt twisted and turned then ended up under Lesnar as the ex-champion got full mount and capitalized doing damage by wrapping his left arm around his man’s head and busting Hunt open with short right hooks for the next minute or so. During the last 60 seconds Lesnar kept a steady and very dominant pace fighting out of half guard landing those big 4-XL fists to the face of Hunt who was completely dominated as the final round ended.

‎The score cards defined Brock Lesnar’s solid performance with scores of 29-27, 29-27 and 29-27 after a 5-year layoff. At the post-fight press conference Lesnar was not committed to a return but did not totally rule out another. UFC bout.
CORMIER HANDS SILVA FIRST LOSS AT LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION VIA LOPSIDED DECISION

Stepping in for Jon Jones due to his removal from the card because of an anti-doping violation, former UFC middleweight king , Anderson Silva took the match on 48 hours notice to challenge Daniel Cormier in a non-title 3-round bout to further strengthen the UFC 200 show.

Within the first minute of Round 1, Cormier closed the distance and got the takedown on Silva off of a shot near the cage wall after the two took the center of the Octagon. The former Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix champion moved into Silva’s half guard and landed some nice short elbows and hammer fists. Cormier kept up the ground and pound assault as well as top control for the next couple of minutes until the round came to an end. In the last 30 seconds Cormier was able to posture and land two big right hands to the face of the former 185lbs champion letting him know it would be a long night.

Silva let his hands go for the first 25 seconds of Round 2 hitting a round house, jab and body kick. The crowd popped with joy hoping for a fire fight but the cheers lasted only for a moment as the leg kick was caught by Cormier who used it to throw Silva off ‎balance by holding the foot and then using an inside leg trip to force the Brazilian unto the Octagon floor. Immediately the AKA team mate passed to side control to work some ground and pound before ‘The Spider’ could switch to half guard with about 3 minutes left. Cormier used the position to work for the next few minutes and land some ground and pound with relative ease but oddly enough did not advance so the referee stood them back up. During the last 60 seconds both warriors traded jabs, hooks and crosses at close range to the crowd’s delight but during the last 10 seconds Cormier shot in for another takedown, pressed him along the cage wall and kept him there until Round 2 ended.

Heading into Round 3, the light heavyweight champion opted to stand and trade for a bit; his looping left and straight left versus Silva’s upper body ‎movement as he ducked and slipped and threw jabs and a back elbow plus standing knee. Cormier masterfully slipped a Silva punch, ducked under and secured a takedown as a minute passed by in the round. The champ worked out of half guard for the next 3 minutes implementing his ground and pound as loud chants of ‘stand them up’ echoed in the arena. With 2 minutes left referee John MacCarthy did stand them up since Cormier did not advance the position but further illustrated his grappling dominance over Silva. Once the two traded for the final 90 seconds of the match, Silva landed some clean kicks and punches backing Cormier up more and more along the fence. A ‘Spider’ Anderson left front kick landed on Cormier’s mid section, to which he reacted with a painful grin and retreated then used the clinch to end the round out avoiding any harm.

The scores read ‎30-26, 30-26 and 30-26 for Daniel Cormier who avoided a ‘catastrophe’, as ‎he called , it during the post-fight press conference pointing to the fact that a loss would’ve ruined his career’s momentum. For Anderson Silva the defeat marks his first loss in the 205lbs weight class but he walks away a winner helping add star power to a monumental card.

ALDO DENIES EDGAR FROM BEING 2 DIVISION CHAMP WITH UNANIMOUS DECISION ‎WIN TO CLAIM INTERIM 145LBS BELT
‎The Interim UFC featherweight bout of the evening potentially could have inducted another member to the very exclusive UFC’s 2-division champion club, which has only two members; Randy Couture and BJ Penn.

That was not to be unfortunately as ex-145lbs king, Jose Aldo, denied former lightweight ‎UFC title holder, Frankie Edgar, the opportunity to claim a belt in a second weight class. For the span of 25 minutes Aldo shut down ‘The Answer’ Edgar’s offense not only beating him to the punch time and time again, but busting his right eye up and cutting his face open above his eye while peppering him with jabs. The former 145-pound UFC and WEC champion surprised many by having absolutely no problem with his often questionable conditioning while on the other hand, it was ‘The Answer’ who looked more and more tired as the rounds came about.

Jose Aldo stuffed Edgar’s takedowns, glided along the cage as if he were on roller skates and beautifully jabbed and circled out or ducked and slipped the New Jersey native’s boxing arsenal so effectively it was as if he knew what Frankie would throw before Edgar did. Aldo addressed in the post-fight that he opted away from throwing too many leg kicks, anticipating his foe to use them to try and catch them and drag him to the Octagon floor and as expected, he was more than ready to unify titles with the division’s reigning king, Conor McGregor.

The scores read 49-46, 49-46 and an inexplicable 48-47 nonetheless, showcasing Jose Aldo’s fabulous performance as he claims the UFC Interim 145lbs championship handing Edgar his first loss in 5 fights. Edgar was not at the post-fight press conference for comment or questions regarding what his next move is be it a stay at 145-pounds or move back up to 155-pounds.
VELASQUEZ RETURNS FROM YEAR LAYOFF TO STOP BROWNE IN ONE ‎ROUND

Former 2-time UFC Heavyweight champion returned from his loss at UFC 188 last June in Mexico City to remind everyone why he is one of the best and most talented fighters the division has ever seen in a methodical breakdown of Travis Browne. For the course of just under 5 minutes, Velasquez bounced in and out of the pocket, slipped any fire power of Browne’s shot in then mashed him along the cage wall off of a body lock or two and seasoned him with low leg kicks, multiple jabs and hooks throughout the 1st stanza. What was jaw dropping were the two wheel kicks the AKA representative launched at Browne who looked the worse for wear as the minutes ticked away. He found himself on his back foot too often, defending more than he wanted too and his back was close to the fence way more than it needed to be, shutting down his offense.

Once Velasquez unloaded a combination on Browne and raked him over the face with a right hook that put the proud Hawaiian on unsteady legs, he drove him to the Octagon floor where he kept top control and landed his best ground and pound. A few unanswered shots ‎later and referee John MacCarthy had seen enough stepping over Browne to waive it off . The official time of the TKO stoppage came at (4:57) of Round 1. During the post-fight interview Velasquez called for the winner of Stipe Miocic vs. Alistair Overeem this September in Ohio at UFC 203.

By: arm Romo