Written by Dan Plunkett at 411Mania.com
The removal of Jon Jones from UFC 200 just 72 hours before show time was a hit that slammed into the UFC’s gut like a kick from a prime Mirko Cro Cop. Plans for the landmark event had already changed plenty enough. The UFC initially earmarked Ronda Rousey for the grand stage, but her upset loss to Holly Holm set her toward a longer path, overshooting the big show.
Then the spot was Conor McGregor’s. His opponent was the only question, and that would largely hinge on the result of his UFC 196 fight with Nate Diaz. With a win, would he fight welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, or opt for a returning Georges St-Pierre in perhaps the sport’s first true megafight? A loss was thought to mean a return to featherweight, but when it occurred and the pay-per-view returns came in, a rematch with Diaz was a clear direction. When McGregor didn’t care to fulfil the UFC’s promotional obligations for the show, the UFC chose to remove him from the fight and scrambled for a new main event.
They lucked out with Jones and Daniel Cormier, with Jones coming out of his April bout well enough to fight in July and Cormier recovering from injury on time for the card. With Jones’ potential failure, they were forced to scramble, but still pulled Anderson Silva out of their hat. In a different time and under normal circumstances, Cormier vs. Silva would have been a super fight for the ages, but it was in 2016 with Silva being announced as the opponent half-a-day before weigh-ins.
Because of the changes, the clear highlight of UFC 200 was the image of Brock Lesnar having his arm raised. Lesnar returned from a four-and-a-half-year absence from competition to defeat a top-10 heavyweight. It’s a remarkable accomplishment even in the notoriously weak heavyweight division, an accomplishment a special kind of athlete could achieve.
On July 15, USADA informed the UFC that a sample collected from Brock Lesnar on June 28 had been flagged for a potential anti-doping violation.
PED allegations have tailed Lesnar even before he made a living in either MMA or pro wrestling, but he had never failed a test. He had been randomly tested prior to his match with Alistair Overeem, and was likely subject to testing during his brief NFL stint as well. That history surely played a factor into the UFC granting him an exemption to the rule that fighters returning from retirement must endure four months of USADA testing before competing. That exemption allowed him to compete at UFC 200.
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