UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey Odds, Tickets, Predictions and Pre-Weigh-In Hype

It’s the return that most UFC fans have been waiting for, and a return that some UFC fans are sick of hearing about.

Ronda Rousey makes her return to the Octagon Friday night in Las Vegas in the main event of UFC 207 against the company’s current bantamweight champion, Amanda Nunes.

Rousey, who hasn’t fought since her devastating knockout loss to Holly Holm back in November of 2015, has been unusually quiet in preparations for this fight and has even gone as far as opting to not participate in any press conferences or interviews to the media during fight week, according to Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting. 

The UFC brass seems to be fine with it, but wasn’t that the problem that Conor McGregor had at UFC 200 and he was pulled from the card because of it?

Irony is very rich here in a year when McGregor was pulled from 200 for not wanting to go to an April PC, they make this call 8 mths later.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 24, 2016

Alas, that’s a battle for another day.

Enough about Rousey, she's been getting far too much attention, and Nunes has been getting slim to zero coverage thus far, which is a shame for the sport.

Nunes is a terrific fighter with a fierce standup game that annihilated former champion Miesha Tate at UFC 200, and she is equally as strong on the ground with her impressive jiu-jitsu skills.

She may not have the submission capabilities of Rousey, but with five of her six UFC wins ending with a finish (three knockouts, two submissions), Nunes is one fighter that should not be overlooked, similar to the way Rousey overlooked Holm over a year ago. 

But before we get into any more analysis, here's a look at the latest betting numbers, according to OddsShark. 

For the latest ticket information: ScoreBig.com. 

Lack of hype?

Since there isn't much media happening with the main event this week, pre-weigh-in hype is scarce thus far, unless you're a fan of watching Nunes do her laundry on Christmas Day or watching Rousey take pictures in a photoshoot.

Nunes seems to be quite loose in preparations for the biggest fight of her life and, arguably, in the history of the women's bantamweight division. Rousey, on the other hand, is strictly business and is only focusing on her performance on Friday night.  

While it is a good sign that Rousey has her head back in the fight game and not in the world of promotion or being in movies, there is the possibility that by shutting the world and media out, the pressure for her to perform at a high level will be even more insufferable.

Against a fighter who strikes like Nunes, it only takes one mistake to find yourself with your back flat on the campus as your opponent rains down hammer fists for the stoppage.

Prediction

Rousey is the favorite to win this fight according to OddsShark and for good reason. People seem to forget how dominate she was before her loss to Holm. She was and still is the face of the women's fight game even though she's been out of action for 13 months.

Rousey built the bantamweight division and will always be the champion of it. Having said that, the level of competition in the 135-pound division has only grown stronger since Rousey's hiatus, and who knows how she will respond to Nunes, who has swept through the division in the past year. 

She has the confidence, the tenacity, the passion and most importantly, the studious nature of a champion. Just watch her talk about her preparation for this fight at the 5:29 mark in the video below:

Nunes isn't here to take part in Rousey's return and give her the belt back; she's here to make her first title defense against the company's most successful female fighter. There is no bigger stage to do it than Las Vegas, and I feel that Nunes is the future of the women's 135-pound weight class.

Prediction: Rousey comes out too aggressive and anxious and gets caught by a combination from Nunes that rattles her cage. Nunes puts her away in the third round via TKO.