Ronda Rousey never recovered from beating in Australia

They say it’s impossible for a fighter to see the end approaching, that when one’s talent is shot and instincts have deteriorated to a point of no return, the conclusion comes in a manner as obvious as it is dismal.

Ronda Rousey returned to the UFC on Friday for the first time in more than a year, but it took about 5 seconds to realize one of the most dominant athletes in mixed martial arts history had met her end in a land far, far away.

She might have been engaging bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 inside T-Mobile Arena, but the dominance that delivered Rousey to the mainstream faster than anyone else in the organization’s history had vanished on a November day in Melbourne, Australia.

In losing to Nunes in 48 seconds by technical knockout, Rousey cemented the fact she never recovered from being knocked out by Holly Holm after beginning her career 12-0, as confident a fighter as she was talented, a money-making train that was pointed down the tracks the minute she was handed the 135-pound division title.

Rousey might return to the octagon again — never believe what a fighter says immediately after such a defeat as the one she suffered Friday — but she is done.

She was never the same after the loss to Holm, but it took this latest defeat to show it.

She traveled this journey between arrogant and likable with the ease of someone who only needed to see the second round once in those first 12 fights. She had the same sort of domination and preposterous level of intimidation that Mike Tyson enjoyed for years as he rose to a feared undisputed champion. She was that famous, that flawless, that invincible, that much like Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan and other greats in their prime.

But as referee Herb Dean stopped the fight Friday, Rousey, the one who created so much intrigue with her memorable finishes, as powerful a crossover star out of the cage as in it, stumbled around in a haze.

She had been stunned with right hands and jabs from the powerful Nunes and appeared beaten from the outset.

She looked anything but like Ronda Rousey.

She was dazed and confused and so, so, so overwhelmed.

“I’m stopping everybody like that,” Nunes said. “When I asked for this fight, I knew everything. I was preparing my mind, spirit, body. I know Ronda Rousey is big. They know and love Ronda Rousey, but no one is going to take this belt from me.”

It certainly won’t be the former champion, who made a disclosed sum of $3 million to return and attempt to rediscover the level of fear she had put into others before that November day in Melbourne.

It ties the highest disclosed purse in UFC history, while Nunes made $200,000 for fighting/winning and an undisclosed amount of pay-per view sales.

Tyson was 37-0 when he lost to Buster Douglas, but then came back to fight almost 20 more times; Muhammad Ali was 31-0 when he lost to Joe Frazier, but then fought 30 more times.

I’m not sure anyone wants to see Rousey again.

She probably would have been headed for a rematch with Holm should Holm win the organization’s newly created women’s featherweight title when fighting Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208 in February.

But there’s nothing to sell now with Rousey. She’s done at 29. It’s over. She transcended the sport and is now a shell of the powerful being that was made so famous.

It’s funny how fast things change. There was a time when many believed Rousey had a chance to become boring sooner than later, that such dominance could quickly turn those paying and cheering to apathetic spectators no longer willing to fork over money to watch.

They did so again Friday with the hope the woman they came to love and admire for her talent had in the past year discovered such skill again, that losing hadn’t caused those instincts to deteriorate to a point of no return.

Sadly, it had.

Not an hour after her victory, Nunes tweeted a photo of her holding the championship belt and pushing a stroller.

Inside was a baby Ronda Rousey.

More than a year later, this is how the most famous athlete in UFC history is now depicted.

That’s how quickly the end comes, a conclusion as obvious as it is dismal.

Ronda Rousey lost a fight Friday at T-Mobile Arena, but her career, her dominance, her intrigue, ended in a land far, far away.

Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.