UFC 207 in Las Vegas: What will Ronda Rousey return to?

By Case Keefer (contact)

Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016 | 2 a.m.

It’s a commonly accepted truth that Ronda Rousey defined an era of the UFC.

The only question is if that era has passed as she heads into her first fight since losing to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015. When Rousey enters the octagon to challenge Amanda Nunes for the women’s bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 207 Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, she won’t be returning to the same UFC.

Thirteen months might not seem like a long time, but for a sport that’s less than 25 years old, it can feel like an eternity.

Here are 10 things that have happened in the UFC since Rousey last fought.

1. Zuffa LLC, the company founded by local brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, sold the UFC to WME-IMG for $4 billion. Rumors circulated for months before the sale became official this summer. But there was no indication that Rousey’s bosses had any chance of changing the last time she stepped into the octagon.

2. According to the sales database at MMApayout.com, four UFC pay-per-view events surpassed the 1.1 million buys that Rousey and Holm produced. That was inconceivable at the time, as Rousey vs. Holm was the second-best selling card ever. But UFC 196, UFC 200, UFC 202 and UFC 205 have all since passed UFC 193.

3. Conor McGregor won not one, but two belts, becoming the first fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold titles in different weight classes. He headlined all but one of the aforementioned events that outdid Rousey’s best numbers — and originally was scheduled to appear at UFC 200, too.

4. Champions changed in seven of the nine UFC weight classes. The only fighters with uninterrupted title reigns since Rousey’s loss are flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

5. Two surefire Hall of Famers who appeared on the main card of Rousey’s octagon debut at UFC 157 in February 2013 also retired. Dan Henderson stepped away after narrowly losing a middleweight championship bout to Michael Bisping in October, while Urijah Faber recently had a final sendoff against Brad Pickett in front of his hometown of Sacramento.

6. The top pound-for-pound fighter for the entirety of Rousey’s career surrendered his No. 1 spot because of a positive drug test under the UFC’s new anti-doping program. Former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is serving a one-year suspension, shortened from a minimum two years, after proving the banned substance found in his system came from a tainted sexual-performance pill.

7. The UFC has held 46 events. The past two years have been the most active in company history, but new ownership is expected to cut back on the number of fight cards.

8. Two former champions sharing the UFC 207 card helped announce the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association, the most comprehensive attempt at unionizing fighters. Heavyweight Cain Velasquez, who meets Fabricio Werdum next Saturday, and bantamweight T.J. Dillashaw, who takes on John Lineker, are part of the association that aims to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement to earn a larger portion of the revenue share.

9. Three different fighters have held Rousey’s former belt in the 135-pound class. Holm ceded the title to Miesha Tate at UFC 196 in March, who in turn lost to Nunes at UFC 200 in July.

10. Potential grudge matches: With Rousey’s two biggest rivals withered away as part of the hot potato act with the women’s bantamweight championship belt. Holm has moved up a weight class after back-to-back losses, and will fight for the new women’s featherweight championship at UFC 208 in February. Tate retired after losing to Nunes.