UFC bantamweight Amanda Nunes has always believed that MMA superstar Ronda Rousey was always an overrated fighter.
Last Friday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Rousey’s comeback was derailed when Nunes blasted her out in only 48 seconds. Referee Herb Dean stopped the one-sided beating after Nunes landed an overhand right, followed by a straight left to Rousey’s head.
The contest was Rousey's first fight since suffering her first career defeat, a two round knockout loss in the fall of 2015 by former boxing champion Holly Holm.
Rousey entered the octagon first with her trademark scowl, but the angry demeanour quickly turned to desperation as the former champion looked out of her class from the moment Nunes backed her up with the first overhand right.
Following that loss, Rousey went into seclusion and kept a low profile in the build-up to the Nunes fight by declining to do interviews. The Holm loss also shattered the mystique that Rousey had developed during the 12 straight wins that kickstarted her career. She is now 12-2 overall.
Rousey, a former Olympic judo medalist, is one of MMA’s biggest stars and has helped widen the sport’s global appeal. So it was no surprise that her return after a protracted absence created a huge buzz.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of last week's fight for was Rousey’s inability to put up any semblance of a defence.
“I don’t understand how Ronda Rousey went so far in this division,” Nunes said to TMZ. “I don’t understand how those girls lost to Ronda Rousey. I know since my first fight in the UFC - I can beat Ronda Rousey, but of course I had to take my time and let life put everything together."
"That day [last week] was the day to prove [it] to everybody and I did it. Actually my camp for Meisha Tate was harder than training for Ronda Rousey. Yes [she was overrated], for sure.... UFC make this happen, they put [Rousey] in a place that she's not at, but I know that I could beat Ronda Rousey since I saw her first fight."
