Gegard Mousasi stops Vitor Belfort in impressive performance at UFC 204
— -- Middleweight Gegard Mousasi (40-6-2) stunned Vitor Belfort (25-13) with a right-head kick in the second round, which eventually led to a TKO finish at 2:43 due to strikes on the ground. Mousasi ate two hard left hands in the opening minutes but emerged relatively unscathed otherwise. He immediately claimed the center of the Octagon and calmly stalked Belfort around the perimeter.
Belfort, 39, defended Mousasi's early attempt at a takedown and occasionally flashed the hand speed that has helped make him famous, but his activity was very low. According to Fightmetric, he landed just nine total strikes, compared to 65 for Mousasi.
The Brazilian did not go down immediately from the right-head kick but was clearly stunned. Mousasi unloaded a flurry of punches near the fence before wrestling him to the floor and dropping elbows. Belfort's face was badly bloodied by the time referee Marc Goddard stepped in.
"He's a legend," said Mousasi, who improves to 7-3 in the UFC. "Fighting him is an honor. I like Vitor a lot. He's a nice guy, besides being a great athlete.
When asked whom he'd like to fight next, Mousasi said someone ranked in the top four of the division or former champion Anderson Silva.
Manuwa demolishes Saint Preux in Round 2
Light heavyweight Jimi Manuwa (16-2) knocked Ovince Saint Preux (19-9) out cold with a left hook at 2:38 of the second round. The finish came after a first round in which St. Preux established decent control on the ground. He threatened to take Manuwa's back on several occasions in the first five minutes, although he did have to fight out of a late guillotine attempt.
Manuwa, 36, seized momentum early in the second round. He began targeting St. Preux to the body and trapped him along the fence. A right hand staggered him, followed by a left hook that put him out. It's a huge bounce-back win for the England-based Manuwa, who suffered a knockout loss to Anthony Johnson in September 2015.
Struve scores 17th submission of career
Heavyweight Stefan Struve (28-8) has won consecutive fights for the first time since 2012, as he submitted Daniel Omielanczuk (19-6-1) via D'Arce choke at 1:41 of the second round. Struve's advantage on the ground was clear throughout. He took Omielanczuk's back in the first round and secured a body triangle but ran out of time looking for a finish.
The tap came quickly in the second round, good for the 17th submission win of Struve's 11-year professional career. It is the first time Omielanczuk has been finished.
Bektic submits late replacement Doane
Featherweight prospect Mirsad Bektic (11-0) submitted late replacement Russell Doane (14-7) via rear-naked choke at 4:22 of the opening round. It was the 25-year-old's first appearance since May 2015 due to a torn ACL.
Fighting out of American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, Bektic looked sharp in opening exchanges before turning to his terrific offensive wrestling. He took Doane down and eventually took his back as he tried to stand up and break away near the cage. It is the third submission win of Bektic's career and his fifth career first-round finish.
Doane, 30, has now lost four fights in a row. He is now 2-4 in the UFC.