UFC 200’s main event was an unexpected end to a chaotic week.

UFC 200 will go down as one of the most tumultuous cards of all time. From Conor McGregor refusing to perform his media obligations, to Jon Jones removing himself from the event by failing a drug test, the MMA gods did not want the event to go off without a hitch.

When all was said and done Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes would be the headlining fight for the historic card. The tough as nails grappler would be going up against the Brazilian brawler to see who would become the queen of the women’s bantamweight division.

Many expected the fight to be a typical Tate fight. Get hurt early, adjust techniques and tactics to fit the needs of the fight and rally late to end the fight or do enough along the way to take a decision win. Would Tate’s tendency to get tagged early play into Nunes’s hands? Would Nunes’s power finally be too much for Tate to handle?

Unfortunately for Tate her starting slow played right into Nunes’s, or right hand more specifically.

The fight ended via rear naked choke, but the move of the main event was just the simple jab-cross of Nunes. The right hand did most of the damage, but Nunes really found a home for it when she connected with her jab beforehand. Before Nunes made it to Tate’s back the champion was dazed from the heavy punches, doing little more than covering up.

Say what you will about Nunes’s lack of depth to her game, but there’s something to be said about knowing your own strengths and weaknesses. Knowing her premier strike, the challenger had her right hand locked and loaded at all times.

Whenever Tate would encroach on Nunes the latter would throw it looking to stop Tate’s advance. Whenever Nunes could split Tate’s extra wide guard she was throwing a right hand straight down the pipe. Whenever Tate’s head was lowered, Nunes was looking to bounce her right hand off of Tate’s temple. When Nunes advanced on Tate her jab worked wonderfully to lift Tate’s head, opening the champion up for a follow-up right hand.

Below is the first instance of Nunes’s right hand finding its new home. Nunes starts to throw a leg kick but doesn’t commit after realizing she is out of range. Tate grabs at the would be leg kick as Nunes backs away. Here Nunes plants her feet as Tate advances and the two throw right hook-left hook combinations. Nunes anticipates Tate’s head dipping and her right lands squarely on Tate’s face. The second punch misses its mark, but the first did enough to stun Tate and contribute to the champion’s own missed combination.

Not the best idea trying to swarm a brawler and coax her into a firefight, but hindsight is 20-20.

It seemed like a significant piece of Tate’s game plan was to catch the kicks of Nunes. She reached at the Brazilian’s legs every time Nunes lifted them, including in the sequence below.

Nunes lands a leg kick and Tate secures it while running through Nunes. Tate secures a double leg and they’re on the ground. As they land, Nunes sits her butt out and away while pushing on Tate’s head with her left arm and posting with her right arm. With enough space created, Nunes gets her right foot to the ground and turns away from the champion to escape. Tate pursues, grabbing a hold of Nunes’s left leg momentarily. Nunes again uses her left arm to push Tate away so Tate switches her high crotch takedown to a single leg. As she tries to turn the corner Tate squares up with Nunes and Nunes digs an underhook with her right arm while putting her left leg back down to the floor. The two women disconnect but they’re still in range. Nunes uses the opportunity to land a massive overhand right after the jab forces her to cover up.

When Tate moves in to throw combinations she has a bad habit of bending over at the waist, exposing her temple to be hit. When Tate gets hit herself, her head will often shoot straight up in the air. Because of Tate’s wide guard she is susceptible to punches that travel straight down the pipe, splitting her forearms. Nunes took full advantage of Tate’s limitations while rinsing and repeating with her right hand.

Here is the beginning of the end. Nunes is cutting off the cage well and she lands a nice stiff jab that gets Tate’s attention. Tate tries to circle off of the cage, but Nunes again meets her with a jab causing the champion’s head to dip. Nunes then comes over the top of Tate’s arm, landing a bomb of a right hand on Tate’s chin. Nunes throws a clean 1-2 to follow-up, and another 1-2 that is deflected as Tate circles away. As Tate circles she holds her arms up wide. Nunes answers by throwing an arcing overhand right a la Chuck Liddell between Tate’s arms to put a stamp on the exchange.

The final flurry that put Tate down for the choke was particularly brutal. Nunes pushes Tate off of her and the champion resorts to simply covering up. Nunes throws another simple 1-2, with the jab splitting the guard and the right straight bouncing off of Tate’s arms. With a bit more space Nunes throws a slowed 1-2 with both of the punches deflecting off of Tate’s arms. As Tate circles away Nunes throws a front kick that falls short before launching the 1-2 again. Tate continues to backpedal but Nunes has resorted to chasing instead of cutting the ring off. Nunes hops forward with a left uppercut but this punch falls short on the reeling champion. Nunes ends by timing a right hand to Tate’s temple as the champion desperately dives forward into an easily stuffed takedown.

When people watch fighting they often expect the “better” competitor to unleash a barrage of fancy techniques. They see flashy strikes getting fantastic results in highlights and correlate breadth of skills with success. Fighting is largely a sport of depth, not breadth. You don’t need to know every punch, kick or choke, but you do need to know a multitude of set-ups for your go-to punch, kick or choke. Bruce Lee said it best, “I fear not the man that has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man that has practiced one kick 10,000 times”.

Nunes’s right hand is clearly her money punch, and it was refreshing to see her put at least something in front of it to set it up. If Nunes can settle down, disguise her right hand more and conserve energy in fights she will start looking like the world-beater from UFC 200.

They’re plenty of coaches that don’t want fighters that are durable. Durable fighters rest on their chins and hearts, often taking unnecessary beatings that could have been mitigated with head movement. I sincerely hope that doesn’t happen to Tate.

The former champion took one of the worst beatings of her career at UFC 200. Some of that of course is due to Nunes’s power and skill, but plenty of that could have been avoided with better movement or a different guard.

Going forward women’s bantamweight is an exciting mess for the first time since the division’s inception. Both the post-Rousey champions were stopped in their first defense. The other two highest ranked challengers, Cat Zingano and Ronda Rousey, are both coming off losses. Juliana Pena is quietly emerging as the next top contender, especially after her dominant win over the aforementioned Zingano.

UFC 200 is over and in the books, but we only have two days to wait until the UFC’s first trip to South Dakota. Keep your eyes on Cagepages for any incoming announcements or analysis.