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Unbeaten Cain Velasquez knocked out veteran Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to claim the featured heavyweight bout at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event at Sydney’s Acer Arena on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Velasquez unleashed a flurry of punches at Nogueira to knock the Brazilian down, then began another set of combinations to his head before the referee stopped the fight midway through the first round.
Velasquez improved to 8-0 in the UFC and has beaten all but one of his opponents inside the distance. Former UFC heavyweight champion Nogueira dropped to 32-6-1.
“The plan was push the pace whenever we could, and then when the takedown was there, take it,” Velasquez said.
“I tried to stay focused, and when I got in a good position, I beat him to the punch.”
Earlier, veteran Brazilian Wanderlei Silva knocked down England’s Michael Bisping in the final 10 seconds and went on to claim a unanimous decision.
Before a crowd of nearly 20,000 at Acer Arena in UFC’s first foray into Australia, Silva, nicknamed “The Axe Murderer,” staged a late flurry to claim the fight.
“Everybody has bad moments, but if you work hard the good moments will come,” Silva said.
Bisping apologised to his fans for the late lapse.
“I grew up in the sport watching him fight,” Bisping said of Silva.
“I have a lot of respect for the guy. I think the reason he got the decision was the knockdown at the end. Sorry England. Sorry Australia.”
Earlier, Australian George Sotiropoulos thrilled the crowd when he beat Joe “Daddy” Stevenson in a unanimous decision.
Ryan “Darth” Bader won his fourth consecutive fight, beating light heavyweight Keith Jardine by knockout at 2:10 of the third round.
It was the fifth loss in his last seven MMA fights for Jardine, from Butte, Montana.
The Sydney show sold out within four hours in December, despite the card not having been announced.
UFC president Dana White told local media last week that Australia could become an annual stop on the UFC tour.
The only venue to sell out faster, according to the UFC, was UFC 83 in Montreal, Canada in April 2008, when 21,390 attended the Bell Centre.
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