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Ronda Rousey left UFC 207 the same way she arrived Friday night — without a word.
With her head down and tears rolling out of her eyes, Rousey ran out of T-Mobile Arena before Amanda Nunes could even shake her hand after their women’s bantamweight championship fight — if you can even call it that. It wasn’t much of a fight, as Nunes did the only combat in knocking out Rousey 48 seconds into the first round.
Nunes swarmed Rousey, who was fighting for the first time in 13 months after getting knocked out by Holly Holm, and wobbled her with punches immediately. Rousey went out on her feet, and referee Herb Dean stepped in to end the fight.
“When I asked (UFC President) Dana White for this fight, I knew this,” Nunes said in her post-fight interview in the octagon. “No one is going to take this belt from me. I was ready for the fight.”
Rousey lunged at Nunes to try to get her in the clinch after taking early punishment, but the champion easily shrugged her off. Nunes was relentless in showing off her striking, and Rousey had no defense.
Even White admitted early in the week that it would be hard to imagine Rousey returning if she lost again, so the annual New Year’s Eve pay-per-view card likely ended one of the most storied careers in the history of the UFC. Rousey became a superstar by using her judo background to demolish her first 12 opponents.
But she became the demolished one in her last two fights when opponents wised up on to attack her on the feet.
“I knew I was going to beat the (expletive) out of Ronda Rousey,” Nunes said.
It was also Cody Garbrandt’s moment. UFC 207 might end up being remembered as much for the 26-year-old’s coronation as it was Rousey’s demise.
Garbrandt improved to 11-0 by upsetting bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, who hadn’t lost in nearly 10 years. Garbrandt used his boxing to knock down the typically elusive Cruz multiple times, winning a unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-47).
He’s expected to defend his title for the first time against former champion T.J. Dillashaw, who picked up a similarly dominant unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26) over John Lineker on Friday
“I’ve been dreaming about this ever sine I was 12 years old, ever since I first watched the UFC,” Garbrandt said.
“T.J. Dillashaw, come try me (expletive).”
Flyweight Ray Borg and welterweight Dong Hyun Kim were the other winners on the UFC 207 pay-per-view. Kim beat Tarec Saffiedine by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 27-30), while Borg dominated Louis Smolka with a unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26).
Neither of the first two fights were particularly compelling, which had the packed arena crowd dead. That changed as Dillashaw and Garbrandt showed why they are two of the best in the world.
Anticipation exploded when Rousey walked to the octagon. The crowd initially protested the early stoppage, but silenced when even Rousey put her head down in resignation in her corner.
It was an inglorious end to a historic career.
“She did a lot for the sport,” Nunes said. “Thank you, Ronda Rousey. But this is my moment.”
Check below for live coverage from UFC 207, including preliminary results at the bottom of the page, and come back later for more.
There was a moment when Ronda Rousey’s comeback shaped up as the biggest fight in UFC history.
That moment has passed as Rousey breaks her 13-month hiatus after getting knocked out by Holly Holm to face Amanda Nunes in the main event of UFC 207 tonight at T-Mobile Arena. Rousey’s return is subdued, and that’s much to her own doing.
She’s gone into seclusion since suffering the first loss of her career, maintaining a silence that’s had far-reaching implications. Her absence made her lose the opportunity of an immediate rematch with Holm that many once thought could become the first UFC pay-per-view to break 2 million buys.
Holm has moved up to a new weight class, featherweight, following losing the women’s bantamweight belt four short months after taking it off of Rousey. Amanda Nunes is left as champion for Rousey, a fight not as big Holm or Miesha Tate but every bit as dangerous.
It could have used extra promotion to reach the heights of past Rousey pay-per-views, but instead received virtually no promotion from the star. Rousey stuck to a media embargo that’s been dissected and debated every which way.
Is it a sign of weakness that shows Rousey still isn’t right mentally after her loss? Is the sole focus on the fight going to help her win by not having any distractions?
Those answers will finally come in the next few hours.
Rousey’s lack of visibility isn’t the only hit UFC 207 has taken. A fight many were looking forward the most on the main card, a heavyweight rematch between Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum, was scrapped when the Nevada State Athletic Commission became aware of a severe back injury to the former.
Flyweights Louis Smolka and Ray Borg were promoted to the main card with the loss of Velasquez vs. Werdum, and will open the main card momentarily. Welterweights Dong Hyun Kim and Tarec Saffiedine will follow, serving as an opening act for the world’s best bantamweights to follow.
Former champion T.J. Dillashaw will take on John Lineker, who’s won six straight, in a likely title eliminator. The winner will find out his future opponent less than an hour later when bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz attempts to defend his belt against undefeated hard-hitting Cody Garbrandt.
Cruz and Garbrandt have engaged in many hostile exchanges, and carried the promotional weight of UFC 207 ahead of their co-main event showdown. Someone had to step up to do the work with Rousey’s first fight back not reaching its once expected heights.
Check below for full results from the preliminary card, and follow along all night for a live round-by-round blog of the main card.
Deep submission attempts were the difference in a welterweight bout between Neil Magny and Johny Hendricks. Magny squeezed out a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) by threatening Hendricks off of his back after getting taken down in the first and third rounds.
The judges weren't put into play until the fourth fight of the night. In the first bout to reach the scorecards, they awarded Antonio Carlos Junior a unanimous-decision victory (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Marvin Vettori in a middleweight contest.
Alex Garcia knocked Mike Pyle out cold with a right hand at 3:34 of the first round in their middleweight bout. The 41-year-old local Pyle has now suffered losses in four of his last five fights, including three by knockout.
South Florida-based middleweight Niko Price made one heck of a first impression in his UFC debut. Price upset Brandon Thatch with a submission (triangle choke) at 4:30 of the first round, coming out of scramble in dominant position to secure the finish.
The first bout of the night ended controversially when a welterweight fight between Tim Means and Alex Oliveira was ruled a no-contest. Means threw repeated knees to Oliveira while he was down, which is an illegal move, but they were ruled accidental so he was not disqualified. The no-contest verdict was rendered at 3:33 of the first round.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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