5 most timely stoppages in UFC history

#4. Amanda Nunes vs. Ronda Rousey stoppage (UFC 207)

Amanda Nunes is the most powerful puncher in women's MMA. Her jab-right cross combination has overcome countless foes, shocking her divisional rivals with the amount of firepower she carries in every blow.

When Nunes was scheduled to face Ronda Rousey at UFC 207 in the latter's return bout to the UFC after a year-long absence from mixed martial arts, no one except Rousey's most ardent supporters gave her a chance at besting Nunes. Rousey's defensive striking, after all, has always had cause for concern.

The former Olympic judoka never tucked her chin, did not move her head off the center-line, and never learned how to move laterally, only ever bull-rushing forward in a straight line.

Against a longer, far more powerful striker with a preference for straight punches down the middle, Rousey's loss was inevitable. At UFC 207, it was a short affair.

Nunes snapped her foe's head back with strike after strike, rocking Rousey into a defensive, stumbling shell before referee Herb Dean stepped in to wave the fight off before she could ever hit the canvas. Rousey's consciousness was spared, and the stoppage was well-received as 'Rowdy' was on borrowed time.

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#3. Song Yadong vs. Marlon Moraes stoppage (UFC Vegas 50)

In MMA, when a fighter hits the canvas after suffering a crushing blow from their foe, fights aren't usually stopped. The winning mixed martial artist is empowered by a rule-set that permits them to follow their felled foes to the ground to land additional strikes.

If their opponents are not defending themselves intelligently and enduring too many unanswered strikes, then the bout will warrant a stoppage. Unfortunately, judging whether a fight should be waved off before or after a fighter collapses is difficult.

However, when Keith Peterson officiated the fight between Song Yadong and Marlon Moraes, he called an end to the bout at the appropriate time. Moraes, now a retired fighter, was on a three-fight losing streak.

All three of his preceding losses came via knockout. So when Yadong, a surging power puncher, dropped the Brazilian with a well-timed uppercut, Keith Peterson saw enough.

Moraes was dazed, having been rocked several times before the uppercut. When the Brazilian collapsed, Peterson waved off the fight with a good stoppage that prevented Moraes from suffering any unnecessary damage. The Brazilian, it seems, agreed, retiring soon after the bout.