Finally.
It's been a long, strange path to UFC 200, which takes place tonight (Sat., July 9, 2016) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The pay-per-view (PPV) show was originally supposed to showcase the promotion's biggest draw, Conor McGregor, stepping up two weight classes to rematch Nate Diaz in a five-round non-title fight. However, "Notorious" got a little too big for his britches and Dana White and Co. were forced to schedule it for UFC 202 and cough up even more cash.
That's just the tip of the iceberg.
Oft-troubled interim Light Heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, was then pegged to headline the historic bicentennial show opposite arch enemy Daniel Cormier. In fact, Jones actually thanked the Irishman for the huge opportunity, but then like Jones is wont to do, blew it all up at the worst possible moment. Brock Lesnar, who shocked the mixed martial arts (MMA) world when UFC announced his return, was then elevated to the top of the marquee, only to fall back to co-main event status opposite Mark Hunt hours later in favor of women's Bantamweight champion, Miesha Tate (full details here).
Oh, and then less than 48 hours until showtime, company officials somehow were able to get former Middleweight champion Anderson Silva cleared to fight Cormier on the PPV main card.
Long and strange, indeed. But, it's still one helluva can't-miss card -- it's going to be epic.
Check out the complete UFC 200 line up below:
UFC 200 PPV Main Event:
135 lbs.: Women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes
UFC 200 PPV Co-Main Event:
265 lbs.: Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt
UFC 200 PPV Main Card (10 p.m. ET):
205 lbs.: Daniel Cormier vs. Anderson Silva
145 lbs.: Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar for interim featherweight title
265 lbs.: Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne
UFC 200 Prelims On FOX Sports 1 (8 p.m. ET):
135 lbs.: Cat Zingano vs. Julianna Pena
170 lbs.: Johny Hendricks vs. Kelvin Gastelum
135 lbs.: T.J. Dillashaw vs. Raphael Assuncao
155 lbs.: Sage Northcutt vs. Enrique Marin
UFC 200 Prelims On Fight Pass (6:30 p.m. ET):
155 lbs.: Joe Lauzon vs. Diego Sanchez
185 lbs.: Gegard Mousasi vs. Thiago Santos
155 lbs.: Takanori Gomi vs. Jim Miller
For the latest, LIVE updates and UFC 200: "Tate vs. Nunes" results TONIGHT click here.