Ronda Rousey Returns and Submits Gina Carano in 17 seconds

Ronda Rousey returned in astonishing fashion, submitting Gina Carano with her trademark armbar just 17 seconds into the first round.

Rousey, who is approaching 40 years of age, returned to the octagon after nine and a half years out by taking on 44-year-old Carano, who fought for the first time in 17 years.

The former UFC Champion wasted no time once the door was locked, completing a successful takedown and forcing Carano to tap out seconds into the long-awaited fight.

“I really didn’t want to hurt her,” Rousey said. “Luckily it was just beautiful martial arts, that’s what it is.”

Rousey famously won eight of her UFC fights within the first minute during her historic career with the promotion throughout the 2010s.

Following her main event victory, she was asked whether her incredible performance has tempted her to lace up the gloves once again.

“Hell no,” she said. “My husband and my kids are watching me. I don’t want to put them through anything more than I have to.”

Carano was all smiles even after the swift end to one of the longest layoffs in pro sports history. Rousey and Carano hugged and shared warm words after the finish.

“I felt so ready,” Carano said. “I’ve never felt that good. But I haven’t been here for 17 years … and I wanted to hit her.”

The comeback for both women marked a huge moment in women’s MMA with two trailblazers of the sport finally sharing the octagon.

Rousey became one of the world’s most famous athletes after winning the first women’s title in the UFC, which only began promoting women’s MMA because of her undeniable talent and star power.

Rousey first became interested in MMA because of Carano, whose athleticism and star power made her into a television headliner when the sport was still fighting for legitimacy and acceptance in the late 2000s.

Carano was happy to finally accept the comeback she had occasionally considered, saying she used her preparations to overcome multiple health problems from recent years.

Ngannou wins and teases potential boxing and MMA bouts

Veteran heavyweight star Francis Ngannou finished Philipe Lins in the first round of just his second MMA fight in four years.

The former UFC Heavyweight Champion immediately had fans thinking of him and Jon ‘Bones’ Jones finally fighting, but to the disappointment of many, Jones played down talks due to his long-term contract with the UFC.

Ngannou didn’t need long to beat opponent Phillipe Lencinas, with a looping left hand being enough to knock out the Brazilian with a minute to go in the first round. Referee Herb Dean had no choice but to put a stop to the fight.

Ngannou then engaged in some promotional banter with Paul, who has built a boxing career on beating martial artists.

Ngannou won the UFC belt in 2021 and unified it in 2022 before walking away from the world’s dominant MMA promotion. He had taken just one MMA bout since then, and he lost two big-money boxing matches to British heavyweight stars Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia.