The promotion of UFC 207 was built around the return of Ronda Rousey, with very little mention of women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. The champion showed why she should have gotten more attention. She pummeled Rousey to win by TKO at 48 seconds of the first round Friday night to retain the title.
"This is amazing," Nunes told Joe Rogan in her post-fight interview. "Before I walked we talked. This moment was my moment. She had her time."
MORE: Watch Nunes KO Rousey
Rousey, unlike in past fights, didn't go right at Nunes and instead tried to feel out her opponent. The Brazilian was having none of it and landed a right hand down the middle to stagger Rousey and the end was near. Nunes kept pouring it on and landing punch after punch with Rousey unable to take her down or muster any offense.
Three punches later, Rousey stumbled into the cage and was out on her feet. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight while Rousey stumbled around the Octagon wondering what happened.
MORE: Nunes says she knew she'd pound Rousey
Rousey immediately left the Octagon and didn't do a post-fight interview even though Nunes was trying to get her attention.
That is back-to-back losses for Rousey. Now the question is whether she will continue fighting.
MORE: Internet reacts to another stunning Rousey loss
Nunes has now won five consecutive fights, all by stoppage.
Here was our live play-by-play coverage of UFC 207: Rousey vs. Nunes.
12:36: Coming up next, the main event of UFC 207 as Amanda Nunes defends her women's bantamweight title against Ronda Rousey. Nunes is riding a four-fight winning streak. She won the title against Miesha Tate at UFC 200. Rousey hasn't fought since her title loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015. Who wins?
12:31: Garbrandt upsets Cruz to win by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-46, 48-46) to become the UFC bantamweight champion. Garbrandt fought the fight he had to fight to dethrone Cruz. He stayed composed, kept the fight in the middle of the Octagon and made Cruz come to him. Garbrandt hit Cruz wih the harder shots and made one of the best fighters in the world look average.
12:28: Round 5 to Cruz (10-9, 48-47). Garbrandt, thinking he had the fight in the bag, fought defensive and didn't want to take any chances. He should become the champion unless we get some wacky scoring from the judges in Nevada.
12:22: Round 4 to Garbrandt (10-9, 39-37). Garbrandt did the same thing he did in the third round but knocked Cruz down on multiple occasions. Only thing I didn't like was he kept posing every time he knocked Cruz down. Go in and finish the fight. Cruz is in a lot of trouble and has to go against what he does and go for broke.
12:15: Round 3 to Garbrandt (10-9, 29-28). Gargrandt wobbled Cruz early in the round with two left hands. Garbrandt had Cruz guessing and doing a lot swinging and missing. Then with about two minutes left in the round, Garbrandt dropped Cruz and was able to control the rest of the round. Cruz is in some trouble. He needs a big fourth round.
12:10: Round 2 to Cruz (10-9, 19-19). Cruz went back to being Cruz, using angles, cutting off the cage and making Garbrandt swing and miss.
12:04: Round 1 to Garbrandt (10-9). The challenger was the more effective fighter. He landed the crisper shots, stayed mostly in the middle of the Octagon, made Cruz miss and landed a key takedown near the end of the round. Cruz fought with too much emotion; he needs to reel it in.
11:47: Coming up next is the co-main event of UFC 207: Dominick Cruz defends his bantamweight title against Cody Garbrandt. It has been a heated buildup between the two and the tension is high. Can Garbrandt keep his emotions in check or will Cruz do what he does best and shut down the high-powered offense of Garbrandt? What a fight this should be.
11:45: Dillashaw defeats Lineker by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26). The former bantamweight champion put on a clinic. Dillashaw's footwork was brillant, his striking and grappling were on point. Lineker had no answer. After the fight, Dillashaw called out current bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and said he's ducking Dillashaw. When pressed by Joe Rogan on who he was picking for the bantamweight title fight, Dillashaw went with Cruz.
11:16: Coming up next at UFC 207, John Lineker goes up against TJ Dillashaw in bantamweight action. Lineker has won six consecutive fights with four of those wins coming in his move up to bantamweight in September 2015. Dillashaw rebounded from losing his title to Dominick Cruz in January to defeat Raphael Assuncao in July at UFC 200. The winner is likely to get the winner of the co-main event.
11:14: Kim beats Saffiedine by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28). This was a very strange fight to score. Neither fighter separated himself from the pack to win the fight outright. Do you score for Kim's aggression or for the more effective fighter in Saffiedine? The winner was aggression. That is now three consecutive wins for Kim. A top 10 fight seems to be on the horizon the "Stun Gun."
10:44: Coming up next at UFC 207, Dong Hyun Kim goes up against Tarec Saffiedine in welterweight action. Kim has won six of his last seven fights while Saffiedine has lost two of his last three fights.
10:39: Borg defeats Smolka by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27). It was all Borg from start to finish. Borg did anything and everything he wanted to inside the Octagon and Smolka had no answer. This is the second time in a row, though, that Borg has missed weight. Great job by Joe Rogan in pressing the issue. Borg stayed steadfast, saying this was the first time he had early weigh-ins and that he had personal problems leading up to the fight. Well, a lot of fighters have dealt with those issues in the past. It's time for Borg to get it together.
10:15: Kicking off the main card at UFC 207, Louis Smolka faces off against Ray Borg in flyweight action. Borg has won three of his last four fights but came in 3 1/2 pounds overweight. Smolka looks to rebound after his four-fight win streak was snapped by Brandon Moreno in October. Out of Smolka's 11 career wins, nine have been by stoppage.
9:59: Magny wins over Hendricks by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). The fight was very close but Hendricks has no one to blame but himself for the loss. He had Rounds 1 and 3 won but lost them in the final seconds when Magny locked in triangle chokes. Hendricks was upset but when he looks at the tape, he will realize he cost himself the fight.
9:34: In the headlining preliminary fight at UFC 207, Johny Hendricks goes up against Neil Magny in welterweight action. Hendricks, a former welterweight champion, missed weight for the second consecutive fight. He said before the fight that he will retire if he loses. Magny looks to get back on track after his three-fight winning streak was snapped by Lorenz Larkin in August.
9:31: Carlos Junior gets it done and wins by unanimous decision over Vettori (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). A very good grappling contest. Had a weird first round with three eye pokes, two by Caros Junior and one by Vettori. The fight came down to the third round with Carlos Junior able to secure more takedowns, connecting on a couple punches and a submission attempt at the end of the fight.
8:51: Coming up next at UFC 207, Antonio Carlos Júnior goes up against Marvin Vettori in middleweight action. Carlos Junior is a Brazilian Ji-Jitsu world champion and is 3-2-1 in the UFC. Vettori has won six consecutive fights and is coming off a successful UFC debut in August, submitting Alberto Emiliano Pereira.
8:40: Garcia wins by knockout over Pyle at 3:34 of the first round. Garcia landed the perfect overhand right to drop Pyle, who hit his head hard on the mat. Great win for Garcia to get back on track. He said in his post-fight interview he wants to fight at UFC 209 on Feb. 11 and stay active in 2017. Nice to see fighters want to be active and not be content fighting two times a year. This loss should be the end of Pyle's career. Losing the way he did and getting knocked out like that should be a sign for "Quicksand" to hang up the gloves and call it a career.
WHAT A PUNCH! @AlexGarciaMMA with the brutal knockout for the 1st round win over Mike Pyle. #UFC207 https://t.co/goRlQSOW3Z
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 31, 2016
8:27: Up next at UFC 207, Mike Pyle battles Alex Garcia in welterweight action. The 41-year-old Pyle has lost three of his last four fights while Garcia has lost two of his last three fights.
8:16: Price defeats Thatch by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 4:30 of the first round. Great performance by Price, especially since he took the fight on short notice. His grappling is pretty smooth and he was promoted to a brown belt in Brazilian Ji-Jitsu after the fight. For Thatch, it's four losses in a row and that usually spells the end of a UFC run.
8:07: Kicking off the Fox Sports portion of UFC 207, Brandon Thatch faces Niko Price in welterweight action. This is a must-win fight for Thatch, who has lost three consecutive fights. Price is undefeated in eight fights and making his UFC debut and took the fight on two weeks' notice.
7:56: Means and Oliveira go to a no-contest. Oliveira had a knee on the mat against the cage and Means went to work, connecting on knees that seemed to finish Oliveira. Means thought he won the fight but it was ruled a no-contest due to the knees being illegal. Oliveira had a knee on the ground, and when any body part is on the ground, a fighter cannot throw a knee.
7:33: To kick off UFC 207 on UFC Fight Pass, Alex Oliveira goes up against Tim Means in welterweight action. Means has won back-to-back fights and 22 of his 26 wins have come by stoppage. Oliveira comes into the fight winning five of his last six fights.
7:28: Fight night is finally upon us as UFC 207 commences from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. In the much-anticipated main event, Ronda Rousey will look to reclaim her women's bantamweight title when she faces Amanda Nunes. In the co-main event, Dominick Cruz defends his bantamweight title when he goes up against Cody Garbrandt. Grab your drinks and food, and buckle up and enjoy our UFC 207 Rousey vs. Nunes coverage.
Steven Muehlhausen is an MMA and boxing writer and contributor for Sporting News. You can find his podcast, "The Fight Club Chicago," and subscribe on iTunes . You can email him at [email protected] and can find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA .
