AFTER A four-and-a-half-year absence from mixed martial arts, Brock Lesnar (6-3) returned overnight to triumph against fellow heavyweight Mark Hunt (12-11-10_ in the main event at UFC 200 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Lesnar, who headed back to the world of entertainment with the WWE following his loss against Alistair Overeem in 2011, made a winning return against the odds, securing the victory via unanimous decision on scores of 29-27 across the board.
Concerned over Hunt’s knockout power, Lesnar was reluctant to engage in the early stages. However, a couple of takedowns eventually arrived to seal the round for the 38-year-old in the eyes of the judges.
Hunt landed some shots to claim a dull second round, but Lesnar came into his own in the third and final frame. After competing an early takedown, he remained in top position for the rest of the fight, raining down heavy strikes to the extent that the bout looked like being stopped. Nevertheless, Lesnar stayed in the ascendancy to clinch the win.
UFC light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier (18-1) called upon his elite wrestling calibre to coast to victory against Anderson Silva (33-8-0-1) in a three-round non-title bout via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26).
Despite jeers from fans who were keen to see the fighters remain upright, Cormier followed an intelligent gameplan to find his way to success against the former middleweight champion, who stepped in on 48 hours’ notice to replace Jon Jones as Cormier’s opponent.
“I trained for eight weeks for a specific guy,” Cormier said. “I fought a guy in Anderson Silva who is the greatest of all-time. I did what I had to do.”
