Ronda Rousey stuns in 17-second comeback win over Gina Carano

LOS ANGELES: Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey made a stunning return to mixed martial arts as she submitted Gina Carano in just 17 seconds with her trademark armbar here at the Intuit Dome on Saturday.

The 39-year-old, fighting for the first time in a decade, showed little sign of ring rust as she secured the 13th victory of her career, with 10 of those wins coming by armbar submission.

The bout, promoted under Most Valuable Promotions and streamed live on Netflix, had been billed as a nostalgic showdown between two pioneers of women’s MMA.

Rousey admitted before the fight that she wanted to “rewrite her ending in the sport” and afterwards paid an emotional tribute to Carano.

"Gina is a person who brought me into MMA, she is the only person who could bring me back into MMA. She's my hero," said Rousey.

"She brought me back home when no-one else could, and she showed me where my home was. You changed my world, and we changed the world. I could never be able to pay you back enough."

Carano, 44, had not fought professionally for 17 years and entered the cage to a huge ovation from the crowd.

However, Rousey wasted no time after the opening bell, immediately securing a takedown before transitioning smoothly into the decisive armbar.

"I was hoping to come out as unscathed as possible because I didn't want to hurt her. Luckily, it was beautiful martial arts, that is what it is, it's an art," said Rousey.

The emotional contest ended with both women embracing in the centre of the cage, while Rousey confirmed it would be her final fight.

"There is no way I could have ended it better than this. I want to have some more babies and I have to get cooking," added Rousey.