LAS VEGAS — Brock Lesnar returned from a 4 1/2-year UFC absence with a unanimous-decision victory over Mark Hunt, and Amanda Nunes took the bantamweight title from Miesha Tate with a stunning first-round stoppage at UFC 200 on Saturday night.
LAS VEGAS — Brock Lesnar returned from a 4 1/2-year UFC absence with a unanimous-decision victory over Mark Hunt, and Amanda Nunes took the bantamweight title from Miesha Tate with a stunning first-round stoppage at UFC 200 on Saturday night.
Jose Aldo also won a competitive decision over Frankie Edgar to claim the interim featherweight title on the UFC’s star-studded landmark show.
Daniel Cormier dominated a decision over Anderson Silva, who took the fight on two days’ notice after Jon Jones was dropped from the main event for failing a drug test.
While Brazil’s Nunes shocked Tate in the main event, the hulking Lesnar (6-3) was the greatest curiosity on the card. The pro wrestler earned his first mixed martial arts victory since July 2010, dominating Hunt with wrestling skill and sheer mass.
UFC 200 capped three fight cards over three days for the world’s dominant MMA promotion, which used a golden canvas for its first event in T-Mobile Arena, the spacious new entertainment venue just off the Las Vegas Strip.
The UFC stacked the card with compelling matchups, and while every fight wasn’t a classic, the underdog Nunes’ victory was a stunner.
Nunes (14-4) became the fourth different fighter to hold the UFC’s 135-pound belt in the last eight months since Ronda Rousey lost it to Holly Holm. Holm lost the belt to Tate in March, but Nunes dominated Tate (18-6) from the start, stunning her with multiple big shots.
Tate was bloodied and unsteady by the time Nunes sunk in a rear naked choke and ended it 3:16 into the first round.
“I’ve worked so hard for this moment in my life,” Nunes said. “I feel amazing.”
Lesnar made a UFC-record $2.5 million guaranteed purse for his first bout since late 2011, returning to the sport where he won and lost the heavyweight title during a meteoric MMA career. Although he walked away after consecutive losses and health problems, he repeatedly considered a return while racking up easier money in the WWE.
The main-event star of UFC 100 finally seized the opportunity to be on another landmark show, and his performance showed that his inimitable athleticism hadn’t diminished. Lesnar never wandered into trouble against knockout artist Hunt, repeatedly taking down his veteran opponent and keeping him pinned to the canvas.
Lesnar dominated the final three minutes, punishing a prone Hunt with his cartoon-sized fists. All three judges awarded the bout to Lesnar, 29-27.
The 41-year-old Silva (33-8) stepped up to fight the UFC’s light heavyweight champ after was ruled out Wednesday night. Although Silva is 45 months removed from his last victory — and seven weeks removed from gallbladder surgery — his status as perhaps the greatest fighter in MMA history got him a shot at Cormier, who was denied a lucrative, career-defining rematch with the troubled Jones.
Cormier (18-1) had little trouble with one of his heroes, largely keeping Silva pinned to the canvas on his back. Silva goaded Cormier into a few striking exchanges, and he even hurt Cormier slightly in the final minute, but the champ won 30-26 on all three cards.