UFC 200: Tate vs Nunes
UFC 200 was supposed to go down as a seminal night in the sport. Instead, it taught us a valuable lesson about what makes an event truly special.
The card was originally supposed to be headlined by the rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. When McGregor did not fulfill his media obligations, he was pulled from the event. This led to the tweet that made the rounds across sporting networks:
I have decided to retire young.
Thanks for the cheese.
Catch ya's later.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 19, 2016
McGregor’s fight would get pushed back to a later date, but fans would still get one of the biggest names in the sport to headline the card. Jon Jones returned from his hiatus earlier in the year to dispatch Ovince Saint Preux for the interim light-heavyweight belt, and he was scheduled to face Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 to unify the title.
In a shocking turn of events, Jones would fail a drug test the week of the fight and the bout was called off. Cormier would face Anderson Silva on two days notice, and Miesha Tate was elevated to headliner against top-contender Amanda Nunes.
Despite many changes, the card goes down as arguably the most stacked in UFC history. It featured, by a mile, the largest collection of top-contenders and past champions ever featured on one night. Even with names like Cormier, Silva, Cain Velasquez, José Aldo, Frankie Edgar, and TJ Dillashaw on the card, the name that stood out was Brock Lesnar.
Announced only weeks before at UFC 199, Lesnar made a special return to the UFC for a single night against Mark Hunt at the event. Most shockingly, he was already scheduled to face Randy Orton at Wrestlemania later that summer, making his appearance all the more special. Lesnar would go on to fail his post-fight drug test, but it did not take away from the bonus of having his mystique on the card.
The most surprising part of the event is that despite all of the names on the card, it did not finish as the most successful card of the year. Both fights between McGregor and Diaz would take that honor despite being on significantly less stacked cards. UFC 200 was a fantastic night of MMA, but it also showed the importance of having the top stars participate in an event. This lesson seemed to be learned when, after much negotiation, a deal was made to have McGregor face Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title later that year when the UFC made its triumphant arrival in New York City.
