It's a wait for just some more hours, but hey, the wait is definitely worth it. After all, patience is the key. UFC 200, one of the landmark events of the mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion, gets underway on Saturday from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The headliner of the pay-per-view (PPV) event features women's bantamweight championship five-round bout between the champion Miesha Tate and the challenger Amanda Nunes. A week back, this wasn't scheduled as the official headliner of the event. Jon Jones was supposed to take on UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier for the title in the headliner, but everything changed in a matter of a few seconds -- in an emergency press conference called by UFC President Dana White on Wednesday this week.
Jones was found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and that led to the former champion being immediately pulled off from the fight card. Cormier, the champion, was left awestruck, but that's when Brazilian MMA legend Anderson Silva stepped up to take on Cormier in a superfight.
Thus the fight was set -- Daniel Cormier vs Anderson Silva in a three-round light heavyweight bout.
The co-main event of UFC 200 features Brock Lesnar, making his much-anticipated return to the octagon, albeit for just one fight as of now. The former UFC heavyweight champion had been forced to quit the MMA promotion in 2011 after his prolonged battle with diverticulitis -- a digestive disorder. But the WWE has kept him combat ready, and Lesnar himself said that he made the call to White to reveal that he was keen on returning.
"The Beast" takes on former K-1 kickboxing champion Mark Hunt in a three-round bout that is set to be nothing but a battle of strength.
The other big match in the fight card features former featherweight champion Jose Aldo taking on Frankie Edgar for a shot at Conor McGregor's featherweight title. Whoever wins the bout, gets to fight McGregor in a future UFC event.
By all means, UFC 200 is unmissable by not only the MMA fans but also combat sports fans from around the world. The sport of MMA is steadily spreading around the world and the PPV event is surely expected to give one more example why the sport is here to stay. Popularity, entertainment, real life fighting -- you name it, you get it.
UFC 200: Tate vs Nunez airs LIVE from 10 p.m. EST / 7 p.m. PST (7:30 a.m. IST, 3 a.m. BST, 1 p.m. AEDT) on July 9.
Where to watch LIVE (Main Card)
TV information
India - Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD.
US, Canada - PPV.
Brazil - Combate.
UK, Ireland - BT Sport 2.
Australia - Main Event.
New Zealand - Sky Sports Arena.
Live streams - UFC TV, YouTube (not available in the UK, Brazil, and India).
