Mark Munoz sealed a dramatic TKO victory over Chris Leben in a pulsating main event at UFC 138 in Birmingham.
'Filipino Wrecking Machine' claims TKO win in Birmingham
Mark Munoz sealed a dramatic TKO victory over Chris Leben in a pulsating main event at UFC 138 in Birmingham to move closer to a middleweight title shot.
The 'Filipino Wrecking Machine' dominated over two brutal rounds which saw Leben suffer a deep cut above his left eye, hampering his vision and causing the fight doctor to stop the fight ahead of the third round.
The win represents Munoz's fourth successive victory since defeat to Yushin Okami in August 2010 and moves him closer to a potential title opportunity.
It was ironic that the first ever five-round non-title bout in UFC history featured two fighters that are renowned for their ability to end fights within the distance, and the pair obliged in the early stages.
In the opening round Munoz played to his strengths and took Leben down, before the 'Crippler' surprised the former NCAA wrestler with a takedown of his own.
He looked to surprise Munoz with his ground offensive and had some success, but by the second round he found it increasingly hard to deal with the 33-year-old's offense.
Munoz grounded his opponent and applied some vicious shots to the head, one of which pre-empted the stoppage by opening a cut above Leben's eye.
After escaping Munoz's grasp and evading his blows on a number of occasions, Leben was slowing due to Munoz's constant pressure and eventually had to retire after two breath-taking rounds.
All-conquering
In the co-main event, Brad Pickett suffered a first-round defeat on his UFC debut as he became the latest victim of the all-conquering Renan Barao.
The Brazilian is on a 27-match winning streak in his MMA career and rocked the Londoner with two vicious knees to the head in an intense opening round that had the Birmingham crowd on its feet.
As Pickett scrambled away from Barao, the Brazilian managed to land an impressive combination before catching his fallen opponent in a rear-naked choke that Pickett resisted as long as he could before being forced to submit.
Former title contender Thiago Alves returned to the Octagon following his disappointing defeat to Rick Story earlier in the year with a vicious submission victory over UFC debutant Papy Abedi.
'The Pitbull' secured the first submission victory of his UFC career after flooring the Swedish youngster with a series of head shots that saw him stumble to the canvas and Alves applied the submission.
Another impressive display came from Terry Etim, who bounced back from 16 months on the sidelines to seal a spectacular win against Edward Faaloloto
Despite emulating boxer Audley Harrison by emerging to a Phil Collins classic, Etim received a rapturous reception from the Birmingham faithful and produced a devastating submission victory.
Etim landed a powerful kick before catching Faaloloto in a standing guillotine choke, which gradually wore the 26-year-old down until he was forced to tap out.
In the light-heavyweight division, Anthony Perrosh claimed his second successive submission victory over Cyrille Diabete.
Perrosh weathered an early onslaught from the Frenchman before gaining the upper hand in the second round, utilising his ground skills to take Diabete down and seal the victory with a rear naked choke.
Hype
On the undercard, John Maguire put on an impressive display against Justin Edwards in a performance that justified the hype surrounding his UFC debut.
Touted as a potential title contender in the welterweight division, Maguire bounced back from being knocked down in the first round to seal a convincing points win.
In the first round, Edwards hit a spinning back kick and right hand to floor Maguire, but the Londoner bounced back to control the fight with a fantastic showcase of submission attempts.
In the battle of two British behemoths, Rob Broughton suffered his second consecutive defeat when he lost on points to Phillip De Fries.
The Sunderland heavyweight survived a crucifix submission attempt in the second round and edged dominate the edged Broughton to maintain his unbeaten MMA record.
Hotly-tipped Jason Young suffered a unanimous points decision defeat to Michihiro Omigawa, who displayed his fantastic ground game to smother the south London fighter's impressive
In a more promising result for the home fans, Che Mills took just 40 seconds to finish Chris Cope with a flurry of shots to the face and two devastating knees which ended the bout.
Elsewhere, Chris Cariaso earned a hard-fought split decision over Birmingham-born Vaughan Lee.
