UFC 207: What happened when Ronda Rousey returned to fight Amanda Nunes?
The final card of 2016 saw Ronda Rousey challenge Bantamweight Champion, Amanda Nunes, 13 months after her previous fight, the shock defeat to Holly Holm at UFC 193.
Taking place on December 30, 2016, UFC 207 was held in Las Vegas and saw both Bantamweight titles on the line.
Rousey's return in the main event lasted less than a minute as Nunes overwhelmed her with stinging combinations that wobbled the former champion immediately. Rousey attempted a clinch but got shrugged off. When Rousey attempted to tag Nunes herself, she found herself on the wrong side of another expert combination. That was the fight as referee, Herb Dean stepped in to stop it. Nunes had another huge win on her resume and Rousey's MMA career was over.
In the other Bantamweight title fight, men's champion, Dominick Cruz battled Cody Garbrandt.
In a colossal upset, Cruz suffered his first defeat in nine years to end his six-year title reign. Garbrandt was hugely impressive, using his immense speed to dodge Cruz's flurries and unload with his own cleaner counter punches. This was a true 'passing of the torch' moment. However, two years on and Cruz still has not fought again while Garbrandt, unfortunately, did not take off as expected and lost the belt instantly to TJ Dillashaw and failed to regain it in a rematch.
Dillashaw put himself in contention for that title shot with a comfortable win over John Lineker as he completely nullified Lineker's offence and played his own game to perfection. The winner via Unanimous Decision: TJ Dillashaw.
Dong Hyun Kim edged Tarec Saffiedine via Split Decision in a close one. He was the aggressor but most of his shots failed to land. In truth, a draw would probably have been a fairer result. As it was, Kim earned his third win in a row, his last to date inside the Octagon.
Finally, in the main card opener, Ray Borg won a Catchweight bout versus Louis Smolka. The added weight that Borg was carrying definitely helped him in this fight as he used his superior power and strength to overwhelm Smolka across three rounds of action to win the bout via a one-sided decision.
That was UFC 207. Not the greatest show in terms of mouth-watering action but a colossal success on pay per view thanks to the mega draw of Rousey's long-awaited return. The card pulled 1.1 million pay per view orders; one of it's best numbers ever.