Reaction to Ronda Rousey’s loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207

Not literally, of course, but any hope Ronda Rousey had of regaining her status as the UFC’s most feared competitor was completely obliterated by Amanda Nunes at UFC 207.

Fans were unsure what to expect from Rousey, who was returning to the Octagon for the first time since losing her bantamweight strap to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015. What we know now is the Rousey of old is no more.

Nunes said before the bout she knew she was the superior fighter, and the Brazilian backed up her pre-fight confidence with the performance to match.

In less than a minute she did enough damage to the 29-year-old to force referee Herb Dean to jump in and stop the fight. In 48 seconds we had an answer to the question everyone had been asking for more than a year: Does Ronda still have it?

All signs point to the negative.

Where Rousey goes from here is anyone’s guess, though plenty in the UFC world have called on her to retire.

Here’s how everyone reacted to the star’s loss.

THE CHAMPION

So much of the fight was about Rousey. Amanda Nunes had every right to be offended she — as the defending bantamweight champion — was going under the radar.

But that’s just the way she wanted it.

Before the fight Rousey was virtually silent. The Brazilian spoke only slightly more, but because the UFC’s biggest star didn’t want to do media before the bout, Nunes’ chances to talk were limited.

“Honestly, I was completely OK with everything,” Nunes said in the post-fight press conference when asked her thoughts on Rousey’s media blackout. She was thrilled.

Instead, she did her talking in the Octagon. First with her fists, and then with her tongue.

“This is amazing. This moment is my moment,” Nunes said after her victory. “She had her time. Right now, I’m the champion.

“People, let’s stop this Ronda Rousey nonsense. I’m the champion here.

“I knew I was going to beat the s*** out of Ronda Rousey.”

With Rousey’s star all but diminished, Nunes called on the UFC world to end its obsession with the crossover star and focus its attention on the up-and-coming talent in the bantamweight division.

“Everybody, I’m the best on the planet. Bulls*** Ronda Rousey.

“In this division we have a lot of talent, now you guys have to look at these girls who are coming up and working hard, come on. Forget about Ronda Rousey.”

Nunes didn’t take long to hop on social media, hitting Rousey once more outside the Octagon with this tweet.

pic.twitter.com/1zflrVlJrl

— Amanda?Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) December 31, 2016

While it suited her just fine, Nunes called Rousey’s refusal to do any media beforehand “a big mistake” and believed her career was over.

“There’s no need to do that. She’s a millionaire now, why does she want to keep hurting herself?” Nunes said.

“That’s it for her.”

THE MAN WHO LET ROUSEY DOWN

Plenty of criticism flew the way of Rousey’s coach Edmond Tarverdyan in the aftermath of her loss.

Nunes was one who took aim at him for his delusional approach in convincing Rousey — an Olympic medallist in judo — that boxing was her biggest strength.

After the fight was stopped Nunes made her way to Rousey’s corner and put her finger up to her lips — a move she later explained.

“She thinks she’s a boxer. He (Tarverdyan) put this thing in her head and made the girl believe in that, I don’t know why he did that. She’s great at judo but he put some crazy thing about his boxing and her head started going down.

“I’m the real striker here and that’s the only thing I wanted to say to him.”

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