And no matter if she pursues Hollywood, WWE, or both in the coming years, her recent defeats have obviously taken away from her “it” factor. “If she wanted a rematch, it’d be the same thing”. Nunes won the fight when referee Herb Dean stepped in and ended it. I don’t think she need it. He’s put that in her head. Heading into UFC 207, Rousey remained the hot topic even though Amanda Nunes, her opponent, was the defending UFC women’s bantamweight champion.
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“Thank you Ronda Rousey”.
“She had great judo”. “She’s going to go do movies”. Rousey’s future remains unknown.
Instead, a long 13-month wait to see Rousey in the octagon again culminated unceremoniously as Nunes defeated Rousey via TKO in just 48 seconds at UFC 207.
Her Instagram handle is filled with #FeartTheReturn posts. Nunes played her hand perfectly and opted not to rush in and possibly fall prey to a lethal Rousey clinch. And now she’s just completely battening down the hatches, and she’s focused on this fight. Those that offered anything but compliments criticized Rousey’s coach, Edmund Tarverdyan, who also became a target of Nunes’s after the fight.
De Mars followed with a list of accomplishments achieved by Rousey, who her mother lauds as “a smart, kind, talented, generous, hard-working person”. “[Rousey] had her time, she did a lot for the sport”.
Nunes now improves her record to 14 wins and four losses but more importantly a win over the most iconic female MMA superstar in history will sky-rocket the champion to superstardom.
“Miesha Tate told me, ‘[Nunes] hits so hard … there’s no way I would’ve tapped out in that fight, but I was so hurt by those hits, ‘” White said.
Rousey, who made a reported $3million for the fight, looked shellshocked by the ferocity and strength of Nunes’ punches, with her face already showing damage inside thirty seconds.
But Rousey says she doesn’t care how she looks. In total, Nunes landed 27 punches. I prepare in my mind, my spirit and body for this moment.
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“It was likely a sad end to an unbelievable career of a fighter who will go down as one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts history and the most transformative figure in female fighting”, notes ESPN’s Arash Markazi.
