UFC 100 was headlined by Brock Lesnar's obliteration of Frank Mir.
UFC 200 got its own Brock Lesnar moment when the WWE star defeated Mark Hunt in the evening's co-main event via unanimous decision Saturday:
Official decision: Heavyweight Contender Brock Lesnar def. Mark Hunt by unanimous decision, 29-27, 29-27, 29-27 #UFC200
— Bleacher Report MMA (@BR_MMA) July 10, 2016
Lesnar answered the question of whether he could take down Hunt quickly. After an extensive feeling-out period, the former NCAA wrestling champion took Hunt down. Although the Samoan initially made it back to the fence, Lesnar soon dragged him back to the mat, where he dominated from top position.
MMA writer Josh Gross summed up the big round for the big man:
Lesnar 10-9. Two strong takedowns. Side control and mount. Lesnar unloaded a few times. Hunt won't go away easy.
— Josh Gross (@yay_yee) July 10, 2016
The second round saw Hunt make a comeback, as Lesnar's takedown attempts lacked the explosiveness from the first round. The WWE star's conditioning became a factor, as he was tentative in the stand-up department and couldn't secure another takedown.
However, Hunt struggled to do much with his opportunity to tag Lesnar as he looked to load up on one punch. Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times provided the outline of the nondescript round:
Lesnar takedowns fail in the second and he's not ready to box so Hunt wins the second -- a dull round.
— Lance Pugmire (@latimespugmire) July 10, 2016
If Lesnar was tired going into the third, Hunt found out that even when he's tired, The Beast is still a beast. The former champion walked through a Hunt punch to earn a takedown and proceeded to blast his opponent from the top once again, working from both the half-guard and mount.
MMA Fighting saw the third and final frame as a 10-8 round:
Lesnar 10-8 round on Hunt in the third. This guy is a freak of nature. He cannot be human. 29-27 Lesnar. #UFC200
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) July 10, 2016
Lesnar's return was one of the biggest stories heading into UFC 200. At one point, Lesnar was the baddest man in the UFC. His one-of-a-kind combination of staggering size and athleticism was a sight to behold, and he rode that combination to a UFC heavyweight championship just four fights into his MMA career.
Lesnar's rise to stardom in the MMA world was short-lived, though. His battle with diverticulitis cost him nearly a foot of his colon in 2011, and he didn't seem to be quite right in the cage afterward.
He was steamrolled by Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem after defending his title against Shane Carwin and Mir.
Now—with a successful comeback on his resume—Lesnar is again a fascinating figure in the sport.
Where Lesnar goes from here will be up for discussion. His immediate future is with WWE. According to Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he's scheduled to appear at SummerSlam in August.
But projecting whether we'll see Lesnar in the Octagon again isn't easy. He says he hasn't considered anything beyond this fight, per Hill:
Since I left the octagon after I got beat by Overeem and kind of forced out of the cage because of my illness, it haunted me. So, well, what do you do? Here I am, and before it’s too late. I want to get back in the cage and have some fun with it. This is all about having fun. I’m not looking past this fight. I live one day at a time, one training session at a time. And I’m really looking forward to it.
But now that he's scratched that itch, will it be enough?
"This may be a teaser," he said, per Hill. "I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”
The win over Hunt was proof that he can still contend in the shallow heavyweight division. The Super Samoan came into the bout as the No. 8-ranked fighter in the division.
But he's also one of the hardest-hitting, so the win for the supposedly glass-jawed Lesnar was a positive sign if he's interested in making a few more UFC appearances.
Regardless of what he decides to do, he took a huge step in answering the questions over what the heavyweight could do if he could regain the confidence he seemingly lost in 2011.
