Ronda Rousey’s return to the Octagon at UFC 207 earned the former bantamweight champion a reported $3m, even though she was knocked out by Amanda Nunes in just 48 seconds after failing to land a single punch.

29-year-old Rousey had spent 13 months away from the UFC, having suffered the first defeat of her mixed martial arts career in November 2015 when she was beaten by Holly Holm. After initially struggling to cope with her first loss, Rousey then began to prepare for her comeback, which was confirmed in the summer as a bantamweight title fight against Brazilian champion Nunes in the final UFC show of the year.

Rousey blamed her loss to Holm on a number of distractions outside of the ring, and as a result decided to snub all media opportunities in fight week in order to try and concentrate on her UFC comeback inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

But within a minute of the fight beginning, it was all over. Nunes rocked Rousey with her first meaningful punch, and what followed was a barrage of devastating fists that had the former champion rocking all over the Octagon.

As Rousey fell against the fence and Nunes moved in for the kill, referee Herb Dean sensibly jumped in to stop the fight and safe Rousey from any permanent damage. Given she had stopped throwing punches back, and the fact that it was reported afterwards that she had not suffered any serious injury, Dean made the right call to end the fight and spark wild celebrations on Nunes’s part.

But despite the dramatically short fight – which given that it was on pay-per-view can ironically be fit into one Twitter video – Rousey will still collect a mammoth $3m [£2.4m] for her 48-second appearance.

Nevada State Athletic Commission confirmed that Rousey’s guaranteed $3m purse was the joint-largest in UFC history, match the fee paid to Conor McGregor for his UFC 202 rematch with Nate Diaz, although his UFC 205 purse was not disclosed after he beat Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight championship.

UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Show all 16 1 /16 UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Ronda Rousey makes her way to the Octagon on her return to the UFC Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Amanda Nunes delivers a brutal right hand to Ronda Rousey to trigger the beginning of the end for her UFC comeback Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Ronda Rousey reacts to her 48 second defeat by Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Amanda Nunes celebrates retaining the UFC bantamweight title by beating Ronda Rousey Getty UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Ronda Rousey's UFC future is now in serious doubt after her second straight defeat Getty UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Cody Garbrandt beats Dominick Cruz Cody Garbrandt became the first person to beat Dominick Cruz at bantamweight Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Cody Garbrandt beats Dominick Cruz Cody Garbrandt knocked Dominick Cruz down three times in a single round as he won the bantamweight championship Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Cody Garbrandt beats Dominick Cruz Cody Garbrandt celebrates his bantamweight championship victory over Dominick Cruz Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey TJ Dillashaw beats John Lineker TJ Dillashaw put himself into bantamweight championship contention as he dominated John Lineker to win by unanimous decision. Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Dong Hyun Kim beats Tarec Saffiedine Dong Hyun Kim picked up a narrow split decision victory over Tarec Saffiedine Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Ray Borg beats Louis Smolka Ray Borg dominated Louis Smolka to win their flyweight encounter by unanimous decision. Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Neil Magny beats Johny Hendricks Neil Magny pulled off a surprise victory over former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Antonio Carlos Junior beats Marvin Vettori Marvin Vettori has his eye inspected after suffering two eye pokes inside the first 90 seconds of his defeat by Antonio Carlos Junior Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Antonio Carlos Junior beats Marvin Vettori Antonio Carlos Junior beat Marvin Vettori by unanimous decision. Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Niko Price beats Brandon Thatch Niko Price picked up his biggest win in the UFC to-date after submitting Brandon Thatch. Getty Images UFC 207: Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey Alex Garcia beats Mike Pyle Alex Garcia delivered a stunning knockout to Mike Pyle to win their welterweight prelim bout Getty Images

The fee paid to Rousey is made all the more astounding when it is compared to the $100,000 given to her opponent, Nunes, despite the Brazilian entering the fight as the reigning champion. Nunes will also be given a $100,000 winning bonus, but the total payment falls well short of Rousey’s pay packet.

UFC president Dana White confirmed that Nunes will also be given a pay-per-view bonus, although Rousey can expect the same given that her name will have attracted significant interest for UFC 207.

Rousey was outclassed by the defending bantamweight champions Nunes (Getty)

The co-main event saw Cody Garbrandt stun Dominick Cruz to win the bantamweight title with a fantastic display of speed, precision and outright cockiness, with the 25-year-old claiming a unanimous points decision to inflict Cruz’s first defeat at bantamweight.