Ronda Rousey earned $3m for being knocked out in 48 seconds but Amanda Nunes paid just $200,000 at UFC 207

Rousey's return to the UFC last less than a minute but she was still paid a record-equalling fee for her 48-second defeat by Nunes at UFC 207

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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.

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.

Cruz took home a guaranteed purse of $350,000 – more than three times as much as Nunes’s guaranteed fee – while Garbrandt, appearing in his first ever title fight and five-round bout, made $200,000 plus bonuses.