UFC 170: What happened when Ronda Rousey clashed with Sara McMann?

UFC continued to reap the benefits of Ronda Rousey's drawing power into 2014, just two months after her successful defence against Miesha Tate in December 2013.

Rousey's 2014 began with a bang as she took just over a minute to dispatch her opponent, Sara McMann, wherein she earned the win atypically by knee strikes to the body.

The bout was put together as both women were unbeaten in their MMA careers and like Rousey, McMann was an Olympic medallist.

However, after tagging Rousey early, McMann found herself on the defensive with a heavy flurry of strikes from the champion which saw her fall by TKO. Your winner and still Bantamweight Champion, Ronda Rousey.

Ronda Rousey gets set to battle Sara McMann in the main event

In the co-headliner, Daniel Cormier faced the unknown Patrick Cummins; who was a last minute replacement for Rashad Evans. Cormier, who had cut down to the Light-Heavyweight weight limit, wanted to fight still, so Cummins was brought in as a new opponent.

Cummins was a former training partner of Cormier and talked some trash about him pre-fight to generate interest in the bout.

Despite the buzz around the fight, it wasn't much of a contest, lasting barely over a minute. Cormier avoided a takedown attempt and smashed Cummins with punches, putting him down to the mat for the TKO win.

Daniel Cormier dominates Patrick Cummins

In what amounted to a Welterweight dream bout, Demian Maia fought Rory MacDonald in what amounted to a three-round thriller.

Maia dominated the first round before MacDonald took over in impressive fashion in the latter two rounds, by beating on Maia soundly with impressive combinations and takedowns.

Mike Pyle defeated TJ Waldburger in a fight that is remembered solely for its controversial finish. The bout was nothing to write home about but when Pyle trapped Waldburger in the mount, he unloaded with vicious elbows to the head which stiffened Waldburger up as he was knocked out cold. Pyle continued to pound away as referee Herb Dean somehow didn't notice Waldburger was out.

Dean eventually jumped in but Waldburger took far more punishment than was necessary in a very gruesome end to the fight. Wow. Really, really bad.

The main card opener was another one-sided affair as Stephen Thompson bested Robert Whittaker via TKO. Despite Whittaker being a dangerous striker, it was Thompson who dominated the fight standing, dealing with Whittaker's offence with ease and looking for an opening.

When it came, Thompson's combination overwhelmed Whittaker. Whittaker attempted to avoid the assault with a takedown but still got pounded on which resulted in the finish.

UFC 170 was an entertaining show, even if it underwhelmed in terms of delivering competitive contests. What it did do was, establish Rousey and Cormier as two of the biggest stars in the promotion.

Rousey's midas touch at the box office continued as the show pulled 340,000 buys on pay per view.