Brock Lesnar defeats Mark Hunt on return at UFC 200
By Nick Lustig
Last Updated: 10/07/16 1:33pm
Brock Lesnar returned to the UFC after a four-and-a-half year hiatus to claim a unanimous-decision victory over Mark Hunt in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
WWE superstar Lesnar announced his decision to return to the UFC in June and, after claiming victory at the T-Mobile Arena, has now raised the prospect of another run at the UFC heavyweight title that he held for two years between 2008 and 2010.
Lesnar, who is due to return to the WWE for their flagship summer event SummerSlam, said: "Oh man, it took me a little while to get acclimated. Words can't describe it. Thank you everybody. Thanks so much."
The former UFC heavyweight champion (6-3) stuck to his strengths and took the fight to the canvas, twice taking Hunt down inside the opening round.
Hunt (12-11-1), who came into the bout ranked eighth in the heavyweight division, was able to wriggle out on both occasions, but was unable to avoid being caught by some stiff punches, as well as a hard knee to the body.
Lesnar failed to maintain his success rate in the second round, with Hunt staying out of range, blocking a number of attempted takedowns and even landing with a couple of right-hand punches.
But Lesnar regained full control of the fight in the third and final round, landing with a number of powerful punches before taking Hunt to the canvas once again.
From then on, Lesnar dominated the round, connecting with a series of punches on the ground, leaving the judges in no doubt of their decision, winning on all three scorecards 29-27.
Meanwhile, Daniel Cormier claimed a dominant victory over Anderson Silva, who had been drafted into fight on two days' notice after Jon Jones was dropped from the main event for failing a drug test.
Amanda Nunes took the bantamweight title from Miesha Tate with a stunning first-round stoppage.
Tate was rocked early by punches from strike specialist Nunes, who switched her attention to submission attempts when the fight went to the mat and quickly finished Tate with a rear naked choke after 3.16 of the first round.
Jose Aldo also won a competitive decision over Frankie Edgar to claim the interim featherweight title on the UFC's star-studded landmark show.
