| UFC 200: Tate vs Nunes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 200: Tate vs Nunes | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | July 9, 2016 (2016-07-09) | |||
| Venue | T-Mobile Arena | |||
| City | Paradise, Nevada | |||
| Attendance | 18,202[1] | |||
| Total gate | $10,700,000[1] | |||
| Buyrate | 1,009,000[2][3] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 200: Tate vs. Nunes was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship held on July 9, 2016, at theT-Mobile Arena on theLas Vegas Strip inParadise, Nevada.[4]
It was the final UFC event under the ownership ofFrank andLorenzo Fertitta, which began in January 2001.Zuffa subsequently announced its sale to a group led byWME-IMG, an Americantalent agency with offices inBeverly Hills, which includedSilver Lake Partners,Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, andMSD Partners.[5]
The event was the first that the organization has hosted atT-Mobile Arena, which opened in April 2016.[4] It took place during the UFC's annual International Fight Week and marked the second time the UFC hosted three events in consecutive days.
A welterweight rematch betweenThe Ultimate Fighter 5 winner and former lightweight title challengerNate Diaz and the then currentUFC Featherweight ChampionConor McGregor was originally expected to headline the event.[6][7] The pairing previously met earlier in the year atUFC 196. McGregor was expected to challengeUFC Lightweight ChampionRafael dos Anjos, but dos Anjos pulled out due to abroken foot only 11 days before the event. Diaz eventually replaced him and the bout was shifted to the welterweight division.[8] Diaz won the fight via rear-naked choke in the second round.[9]
On April 19, after McGregortweeted a supposed retirement, the UFC announced that he was pulled from the event and a replacement for him was being sought. UFC PresidentDana White clarified that McGregor's removal was related to his refusal to come to a press conference that week, because "he was inIceland training and didn't want to ruin his preparation for the fight".[10] McGregor released a statement two days later, claiming he was not retired and that he requested the UFC to allow him to focus more on the fight preparation this time, as he felt he lost his focus during the media obligations for the previous fight. He then stated that he was ready for the event and would come for a scheduledNew York press conference, but if that's not enough, he "doesn't know what to say".[11] A report later claimed that the UFC decided to cancel the fight indeed, in what was rumored to be a $10 million paycheck for McGregor.[12]
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On April 27, the UFC officially announced the new headliner as aUFC Light Heavyweight Championship unification rematch betweenDaniel Cormier andJon Jones.[13] The pairing met previously atUFC 182 in January 2015 with Jones defending his title via unanimous decision.[14] Subsequent to that victory, Jones was stripped of the title and suspended indefinitely from the UFC in connection with ahit-and-run incident that he was involved in.[15] Cormier replaced him and went on to defeatAnthony Johnson atUFC 187 to win the vacant title.[16] Their rematch was originally expected to take place atUFC 197, but Cormier pulled out three weeks before the event due to injury and was replaced byOvince Saint Preux, in what became an interim title bout.[17] Jones went on to defeat Saint Preux by unanimous decision and won the interim title.[18]
The event suffered another major hit only three days before it happened, as it was announced that Jones was pulled out byUSADA due to a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 16. Cormier declared he would still fight if an opponent brought to him "made sense".[19] A day later Jones apologized for the incident, but denied knowingly taking any illegal substance. He and his manager also declined to specify the substance that resulted in the failed test.[20] His "B" sample also came positive for the same substances and Jones' faced a potential two-year suspension.[21]
During theUFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Alvarez broadcast, it was announced that formerUFC Middleweight ChampionAnderson Silva would replace Jones on less than two days' notice and face Cormier in a three-round non-title light heavyweight bout.[22]
Due to those major changes, the already scheduledUFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout between then championMiesha Tate and top contenderAmanda Nunes was revealed as the new main event.[22][23]
On June 4, a few hours before theUFC 199 event, MMAFighting.com reporterAriel Helwani broke the news that formerUFC Heavyweight ChampionBrock Lesnar was close to finalizing a deal to return at this event, despite being active in theWWE. The UFC confirmed the report, via a teaser video clip on the UFC 199 main card broadcast.[24] However, Helwani's news scoop earned him a prompt physical ejection from the event venue and a lifetime ban from covering future UFC live events.[25] The organization faced a major backlash from the media community as well as fans,[26] before reinstating Helwani's media credentials. They also stated that it was their belief "recurring tactics used" by Helwani "extended beyond the purpose of journalism", a statement that MMAFighting.com disagreed with.[27]
Lesnar faced the2001 K-1 World Grand Prix winner and former interim title contenderMark Hunt.[28] Due to Jones' removal from the card, this bout was briefly promoted as the new main event. However, after the Tate-Nunes bout was announced as the new headliner, Lesnar-Hunt was once again confirmed as the co-main event.[22] Lesnar also headlinedUFC 100 and with Jones' absence, he andJim Miller remained as the only two fighters to compete at both milestone events.
Due to McGregor's experiments outside of his division, an interimUFC Featherweight Championship bout between former championJosé Aldo and former lightweight championFrankie Edgar took place at this event.[7] It was a rematch, as Aldo previously defended his title against Edgar atUFC 156 in 2013 via unanimous decision.[29] Aldo once again won by unanimous decision.[30]
The main card opened with a heavyweight bout between former two-time championCain Velasquez andTravis Browne.[31]
The featured bout of the preliminary card was a women's bantamweight contest between former title challengerCat Zingano andThe Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate winnerJulianna Peña.[32] A few other bouts were also part of theFox Sports 1 televised prelims:
A lightweight bout betweenJoe Lauzon andThe Ultimate Fighter 1 winner and former lightweight title challengerDiego Sanchez was originally booked forUFC 180. However, the bout was cancelled due to both fighters being injured.[37] The fight was later rescheduled for this event and headlined theUFC Fight Pass preliminary card.[38]
A middleweight bout between formerStrikeforce Light Heavyweight ChampionGegard Mousasi andDerek Brunson was expected to take place at the event, but on June 19 it was announced that Brunson pulled out due to injury and was replaced byThiago Santos.[39][40]
FormerPRIDE Lightweight ChampionTakanori Gomi andJim Miller were chosen to open the event in a lightweight bout.[7]
At the weigh-ins, Hendricks missed weight by a quarter of a pound, weighing in at 171.25 lb. He was not given a second attempt to make the weight because the recently introduced early weigh-in procedures set a 10:00 a.m. cut-off time and Hendricks weighed in at the last possible moment. As a result, he was fined 20% of his fight purse, which went to Gastelum.[41]
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Women's Bantamweight | Amanda Nunes | def. | Miesha Tate (c) | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 3:16 | [a] |
| Heavyweight | Brock Lesnar | vs. | Mark Hunt | No Contest (overturned) | 3 | 5:00 | [b] |
| Light Heavyweight | Daniel Cormier (c) | def. | Anderson Silva | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | [c] |
| Featherweight | José Aldo | def. | Frankie Edgar | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | [d] |
| Heavyweight | Cain Velasquez | def. | Travis Browne | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:57 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Women's Bantamweight | Julianna Peña | def. | Cat Zingano | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (171.25 lb) | Kelvin Gastelum | def. | Johny Hendricks | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | T.J. Dillashaw | def. | Raphael Assunção | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Sage Northcutt | def. | Enrique Marín | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Joe Lauzon | def. | Diego Sanchez | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:26 | |
| Middleweight | Gegard Mousasi | def. | Thiago Santos | KO (punches) | 1 | 4:32 | |
| Lightweight | Jim Miller | def. | Takanori Gomi | TKO (punches) | 1 | 2:18 | |
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:[44]
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to theNevada State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses.[45]
^Johny Hendricks was fined 20 percent of his purse ($20,000) for failing to make the required weight for his fight with Kelvin Gastelum. That money was issued to Gastelum, an NSAC official confirmed.
The event had a $10,700,000 gate, which broke the record for a mixed martial arts event in the United States. The final attendance was 18,202, a record forNevada, which had hosted 104 prior UFC events.[1] The total disclosed payout for the event reached nearly $7 million at $6,979,000, believed to be the highest combined disclosed payday in UFC history.[45] Lesnar's fight purse was also the highest, breakingConor McGregor's record fromUFC 196 by $1.5 million.[46]
On September 15, 2010,Yahoo Sports reported that UFC presidentDana White was hanging out withBeavis and Butt-Head creator,Mike Judge, of which they wrote "White says the UFC and Judge will be working together".[47] In a rare collaboration, Judge who is a huge fan of the UFC[48] worked on a special project for UFC 200 creating an animated short to promote the event,[49] which also featuredHank Hill fromKing of the Hill, another one of Judge's shows.[50][51][52]
On July 15, it was announced thatUSADA informed Lesnar of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 28 from theWADA-accredited UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory on the evening of July 14.[53] Four days later, USADA announced another failed test: this time in-competition. It was the same substance, which was not disclosed.[54] On July 23, reports came that Lesnar tested positive for hydroxy-clomiphene, which was revealed days earlier as one of the substances responsible for fellow UFC competitor Jon Jones' test failure.[55] Lesnar was eventually suspended by theNSAC on December 15 for a period of one year, retroactive to the date of the event and his win was overturned to a no contest. He was also fined 10% of his purse.[42] In early January 2017, USADA also suspended Lesnar for the same period, but this time retroactive to the moment he was provisionally suspended.[56]
On July 18, the NSAC confirmed the substances for which Jones tested positive:hydroxy-clomiphene, ananti-estrogenic agent andletrozole metabolite, anaromatase inhibitor. A temporary suspension placed on Jones' Nevada fight license was subsequently extended by a unanimous vote, while a formal hearing was expected for September or October.[57]
On November 7, USADA announced that Jones was suspended for a period of one year retroactive to the July 6 date on which he was provisionally suspended.[58] Two days later, the UFC announced that Jones was stripped of the interim title.[59] The NSAC also suspended Jones for the same period as USADA.[60]
