Brazilian Amanda Nunes punches Ronda Rousey in their UFC women's bantamweight championship bout. Credit:Getty Images "Forget about Ronda Rousey. She's going to do to movies now and retire," said the woman nicknamed "the Lioness". Rousey returned from a 13-month absence and never managed to get her footing against Nunes, who rocked Rousey with her very first punches. Rousey staggered and stumbled backward while Nunes relentlessly pursued her and landed multiple shots. Referee Herb Dean stopped the bout with Rousey still on her feet, and Rousey briefly protested the stoppage before leaving the cage in her mother's arms.

Amanda Nunes celebrates her win over Ronda Rousey. Credit:AP Nunes kept the punches flying on social media after the fight, as well, posting this: The defeat could signal the end of the road for the 29-year-old Californian, who lost her title a little over a year ago when she was knocked out in stunning fashion by Holm's head kick in the main event at UFC 193 in Melbourne. Amanda Nunes unleashed a flurry on Ronda Rousey from the first bell. Credit:AP

Holm then lost to Miesha Tate in her first defence in March, and Tate did little better, turning over the belt to Nunes at UFC 200 in July. Rousey hunkered down this camp in Glendale, California, refusing to participate in the usual slate of mandatory interviews, with the UFC delivering a message she needed no distractions to focus on regaining her belt. But all that made no difference to Nunes. Instead, it was Nunes celebrating what could be her own compelling ride considering her dominance with back-to-back first-round finishes over Tate and Rousey and her personal story as the first openly gay champion in combat sports history. "Come on, guys," Nunes implored to the standing-room-only crowd at T-Mobile Arena who strongly supported Rousey at introduction but came to support Nunes. "These other girls work hard like Ronda Rousey.

"This moment is my moment," Nunes (14-4) said. "Right now, I'm the champion. "I know [fans] love Ronda Rousey, but I was really ready for this fight. I knew this was going to happen. I'm the best on the planet." Rousey, a judo bronze medallist at the 2008 Olympics, may be one of the biggest draws in the UFC, but she is not universally popular, and the fact that she was allowed to shun the media in the run-up to this fight was not well-received by fighters or fans.

But no one can argue with her previous record as the first female bantamweight champion in the UFC and her six successful defences of her title before succumbing to Holm. Her stature as one of the biggest draws in mixed martial arts saw her get a $US3 million ($4.2 million) purse for Friday's fight, plus an undisclosed share of the pay-per-view revenues. In contrast, Nunes was guaranteed a payday of just $US200,000 ($277,240) – $US100,000 to show and another $100,000 as a win bonus for her first title defence – apart from an undisclosed share of pay per view revenues. "That's it for her," Nunes said. "For sure, she's going to retire. "Her coach put some crazy things in her head, and her career started going down. I'm the real striker here."

Having walked away with the women's bantamweight belt, Nunes now has the chance to start a new chapter in the history of mixed martial arts. In the co-main event, Grabrandt scored a huge upset, sending Cruz crashing to the canvas three times in the fourth round before winning on the judges' scorecards. Cruz, until now the first and only champion in the history of the UFC's bantamweight division, can have no complaints after being out-thought and out-fought over five gruelling rounds that featured plenty of trash talk between the two fighters.

Fairfax Media, Reuters, LA Times