UFC 200 took place last night (Saturday, July 9, 2016) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was headlined by a women’s bantamweight title bout between champion Miesha Tate and challenger Amanda Nunes. Overall from a betting perspective, seven favorites won while five underdogs came through according to the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each bout. Favorites That Won In a light heavyweight attraction, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier competed in a showcase bout against legendary former middleweight champ Anderson Silva. Cormier outgrappled Silva in all three rounds with takedowns and ground and pound, but did manage to exchange with “The Spider” at some point in every frame. The stand-up exchanges were very exciting with back-and-forth action, but the wrestling was extremely one-sided as Cormier smartly worked his way to a decision victory. Cormier came through as a -410 (Bet $410 to win $100) favorite while Silva was a +365 (Bet $100 to win $365) underdog. In a heavyweight bout, Cain Velasquez showcased serious improvements, landing a spinning back kick and then big punches against Travis Browne before eventually putting “Big Hapa” away with ground and pound. Velasquez closed as a -340 favorite while Browne was a +310 underdog. In a welterweight battle, Kelvin Gastelum kept the pressure on former champion Johny Hendricks, keeping “Bigg Rigg” on his back foot for extended periods and pushing a high pace to walk away with a unanimous decision victory, the biggest of his career. Gastelum won at -110 while Hendricks was a +100 dog. In a bantamweight scrap, TJ Dillashaw showcased the massive improvements he’s made since he originally lost to Raphael Assuncao, this time easily winning a decision using great movement, stance switches and combinations. Dillashaw was -400 while Assuncao was +355. In a lightweight fight, Sage Northcutt overcame a second round scare against Enrique Marin, but was able to win both the first and third rounds to take home a tough decision. Northcutt was victorious as a hefty -470 favorite while Marin was +415. In a middleweight contest, Gegard Mousasi put on a striking clinic against short notice replacement Thiago Santos. Mousasi was in top position and landed a beautiful uppercut as Santos rose to his feet near the end of the round, putting the Brazilian out via TKO on the canvas. Mousasi held serve as a -280 favorite while Santos was a +255 underdog. In the opening bout of the evening, lightweights Jim Miller and Takanori Gomi threw down. Miller quickly took the fight to the floor, hunted for a sub, then settled for a TKO via ground strikes when he couldn’t easily force the tap. Miller closed as a -280 betting favorite while Gomi was +255. Underdogs That Won In the main event of the evening, Amanda Nunes dethroned UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate with some nasty striking, which forced Tate to abandon the stand-up and panic with wrestling. Nunes continued to blast Tate, bloodying her face and then took the champion’s back, tapping her out via rear naked choke. Nunes won as a +280 dog while Tate was -310. In the co-main event of the evening, former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar returned from a near five year hiatus and proved why he was once the scariest man alive with explosive takedowns against dangerous striker Mark Hunt. Lesnar put Hunt on his back in the first and third rounds, keeping him down and landing big punches on the canvas. Hunt stuffed his takedowns in the second, but was too tentative to land anything big on the feet as Lesnar easily won a decision. Lesnar was a +145 underdog while Hunt lost as a -155 favorite. In an interim featherweight title bout, former champion Jose Aldo showcased incredible takedown defense, powerful striking and beautiful footwork and movement while making mince meat out of Frankie Edgar’s face en route to winning a decision and the belt. Aldo was +125 while Edgar was a -135 favorite. In a women’s bantamweight bout, Julianna Pena showcased her grappling, taking top position against former title challenger Cat Zingano in the final two rounds to win a decision and put herself in the title picture. Pena was victorious as a +160 underdog while Zingano came up short at -170. In a lightweight fight, Joe Lauzon connected with one of his first big punches against Diego Sanchez, rocking the TUF season one winner and he pursued the finish with a vengeance, obliterating Sanchez with perfectly placed hooks until the referee finally picked his jaw up off the ground and put an end to the beatdown. Lauzon was +110 while Sanchez was -120.
