The third quarter in 2016 was eagerly awaited by many fans. A milestone event loomed in the distance in the shape of UFC 200. A fight weekend was scheduled to mark the event. Undefeated stars maintaining their record. Fights getting called off and late replacements coming.

July.

UFC:

The event most looked forward to was UFC 200: Jones Vs. Cormier 2. A milestone event within the company and the MMA world. But before all that happened there were 2 cards in 2 nights before UFC 200. We start off looking at UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos Vs. Alvarez for the lightweight title. Dos Anjos had been on a winning tear winning his last 5 prior to this fight. Whereas Alvarez‘s record in the UFC had started off a bit bumpy losing to Donald Cerrone. He impressed enough in his next 3 fights to gain a title shot, though. Eddie Alvarez is known as the ‘Underground King‘ and he showed why when he fought Dos Anjos. He quickly put an end to Dos Anjos‘s title reign, TKO’ing him within the first round.

The UFC international fight week was just picking up full steam and on July 8th Joanna Jedrzejczyk got set to defend her title. Her challenger was strawweight contender Claudia Gadelha. This was the second time these women met and the outcome was no different from the previous fight. Jedrzejczyk took the win by decision once again maintaining her unbeaten run in MMA.

UFC 200

A star-studded card featured the likes of Miesha Tate, Mark Hunt, Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones plus more. The card set out to be a fantastic one but as we all know, nothing is set in stone. The night before the event drama unfolded as news broke that Jon Jones had been pulled from the card due to doping violations. Anderson Silva stepped up to be a replacement for Jones.

The card itself turned out to be somewhat decent providing it had problems. Fans witnessed Miesha Tate fail to defend her 135lb belt on the first time of asking. Amanda Nunes put a sudden stop to Tate‘s spell as a champion. Nunes defeated Tate via rear naked choke. The co-main event put returning icon Brock Lesnar against KO merchant Mark Hunt. Lesnar‘s return turned out to be successful as he out-wrestled Hunt throughout the bout. The main event was virtually identical to the co-main event. Cormier and Silva went the full 5 rounds, with Cormier utilising his wrestling. Fans were displeased with the way Cormier engaged the bout with a cautious approach. This lead to boo’s echoing around the arena when Cormier‘s name was announced as the winner.

UFC 201

UFC 201 saw Robbie Lawler defend his welterweight title against Tyron Woodley. The contest was a short-lived affair when Tyron Woodley knocked out Lawler. It took Woodley just 2 minutes 12 seconds to become the new welterweight champion.

Bellator:

Bellator 158 originally had Kimbo Slice headlining the card against James Thompson. It was to be a rematch when the two first fought in EliteXC. Those plans had to change when tragedy struck as Kimbo Slice passed away aged 44. The card then had Koscheck Vs Daley 2 installed as it’s headlining fight. Koscheck though once again withdrew from the fight and was replaced by Douglas Lima, the card finally got its main event. Before we saw that though, a former UFC heavyweight in Matt Mitrione fought and scored a TKO over Oli Thompson.

Also on the card was the hottest prospect in MMA caused shock-waves around the world. Michael ‘Venom’ Page battled with MMA veteran Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos. The shock-wave was caused when ‘MVP‘ landed a flying knee scoring a KO and fracturing ‘Cyborgs‘ skull. The main event went the distance in a back and forth war. Lima had Daley in trouble a few times throughout, but Daley stood firm and heard the final bell. Lima won the contest by unanimous decision.

August.

UFC:

The focal point for UFC in august was a rematch everyone wanted to see. UFC 202 hosted the rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. The card also featured light-heavyweight contenders ‘Rumble’ Johnson and Glover Teixeira, as well as welterweights Cerrone and Story. Cerrone Vs. Story gave MMA fans possibly one of the best combo finishes ever seen in the UFC. Cerrone landed a four-piece combo to put Story away in the second round. ‘Rumble’ Johnson and Teixeira both had their minds set on a title shot if they won this bout. It was Johnson who got that title shot by emphatically knocking out Teixeira with 13 seconds on the clock.

The main event soon came around and it was an all out war. Both McGregor and Diaz had points to prove and they most definitely proved it on this night. McGregor dropped Diaz multiple times in this 5 round fight. Diaz though showed he had no quit and just kept coming forward. With both their tanks on empty, the fight went to the judges’ scorecards. It was a really close fight, which could of went either way and will be regarded as an instant classic. The judges, however, thought McGregor had done enough to get a majority decision.

Bellator:

The only Bellator card in August got headlined by former UFC fighter, Benson Henderson. Where he took on Patricio Freire and won via TKO. By doing so this put him in the title picture to face Michael Chandler for the lightweight title. Chandler won the title by knocking out Patricio‘s brother Patricky.

September.

UFC:

UFC 203 was their first ever event in Cleveland, Ohio, the home of unlikely champion Stipe Miocic. It would be the place also where Miocic made his first title defence. It also featured the long-awaited debut of former WWE star CM Punk. He would be welcomed to UFC by rising star Mickey Gall. The co-main event would be contested between Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne.

First off on the list we look at Mickey Gall taking on CM Punk. It was a debut from hell for Punk as he only managed to last 2 minutes 14 seconds. Gall made Punk submit in the first round from a rear naked choke. This abruptly ended the speculation about Punk making it as an MMA fighter. Moving on to the co-main event, Werdum showed fans what he was capable of as he punished Travis Browne through all 3 rounds of their fight. Werdum ended up taking the decision and edging his way back into the title frame.

Alistair Overeem was the man hoping to spoil Miocic‘s homecoming and that he nearly did. Overeem dropped Miocic early in the fight and went for a guillotine choke. Overeem for some reason released the choke and that was where it started to fall apart for Overeem. Miocic had him on the back foot for the rest of their short fight. It all came to an end when Miocic caught Overeem with a flurry of punches and knocking him out.

Bellator.

The only Bellator card in September was a bit lacklustre compared to the ones prior to it. It featured former UFC heavyweight Cheick Kongo squaring off with Tony Johnson in which they fought to a decision in Kongo‘s favour.