Nunes vs. Rousey

Striking is back in style:

The UFC bantamweight title match pitting champion Amanda Nunes against former champ Ronda Rousey Friday night (Dec. 30, 2016) looked more like a boxing event than anything else with each opponent getting off few kicks. Rousey's head movement and defense was non-existent against the superior striking Nunes who scored at will. Rousey was stopped by Nunes after 48 seconds.

A world class judoka, Ronda never got to close the distance to use her grappling skills. Like I've said in earlier posts, I don't really follow the sport, so who knows how Nunes — who like virtually all MMA players has trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu — would have fared on the ground against the likes of Rousey. The majority of Rousey's wins came by use of an armbar and have lasted on average less than a minute. Nunes lost in her pro debut via armbar submission in 2008. Grappling techniques like those found in judo, wrestling and BJJ dominated the early years of MMA.

Prize money was lopsided as Rousey was guaranteed a 3 million dollar purse to Nunes' $100,000, plus a "matching win bonus."

Ronda doesn't need to do this anymore. Hollywood's calling with even bigger paydays.