Rua, Machida earn knockout wins in UFC on Fox card

LOS ANGELES - When Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White announced his plan to award a title shot to the most impressive light heavyweight on Saturday's Fox network event, he said he hoped the competitors would make his decision difficult.

In the end, White had an easy time choosing Lyoto Machida after his second-round knockout of Ryan Bader, bypassing Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's fourth-round stoppage of Brandon Vera in the main event.

Both former champions staked a potential claim to the No. 1 contender spot with impressive victories at Staples Center, but it was Machida who got the golden ticket to take on either Dan Henderson or champion Jon Jones after their September matchup.

"Everything I've seen from Lyoto Machida looks like he wants this fight worse than Shogun does. Shogun hasn't shown me anything that he's demanding to fight Jon Jones again. Machida has," White said. "It was more than just the knockout."

Machida knocked Reno native Bader cold with a short right hand in the second round as Bader charged forward.

Bader appeared confounded by Machida's elusive style and was unable to mount much offense. Machida patiently picked his spots to attack before the perfectly placed deciding blow.

Rua had the more competitive and entertaining bout, engaging Vera in several big exchanges that had both fighters in trouble on several occasions. Rua was finally able to put away Vera with a series of big punches against the cage.

After the first shot landed, Vera's mouthpiece became dislodged, and as he went to adjust it, Rua unleashed a flurry that led to the stoppage.

"Brandon's a tough guy. It was a great fight," Rua said. "I just waited for the right opportunity, and that was it. TKO."

Vera, proud of his performance against one of his idols, said he opened the door for Rua with the momentary lapse.

"He hit me with a shot that kind of knocked my mouthpiece out. I went to fix it, and the next thing I knew, (referee) Herb Dean was like, 'Are you OK?' " Vera said. "Damn, he got me."

White said Machida has made it abundantly clear how badly he wants another shot to reclaim the belt, and also indicated Rua's recent decision to pass on a fight against rising contender Glover Teixeira factored into the decision.

"Machida hasn't turned down any fights," White said. "Plus, he and his management have been all over me telling me they want this."

This wasn't the first decision to go Machida's way over Rua at Staples Center. Machida, then the champion, won a controversial split decision in the main event of the most recent UFC card at the arena in 2009.

Rua said he didn't have a problem with this outcome, particularly because he thought he didn't give his best performance and tired throughout the fight.

"I respect the decision. I will keep training. Good luck to Lyoto and let's move on," Rua said. "He deserves to be the next contender and let's wait for my opportunity."

Further down the card, lightweight Joe Lauzon took home $50,000 in bonuses for fight of the night and submission of the night for his third-round triangle choke victory over Jamie Varner.

Varner hammered Lauzon with body shots and pulled him to the ground several times, but he got sloppy after a takedown in the final round and Lauzon locked in the submission.

Welterweight Mike Swick returned from more than two years of inaction with a brutal second-round knockout of DaMarques Johnson to begin the Fox telecast.

Swick caught a Johnson kick, then tripped him backward. He followed Johnson to the mat with a big right hand that put him out, but landed two more big punches before the referee stepped in.

"It's been such a long time, and this just feels incredible," Swick said.

The preliminary card was highlighted by submission wins by Rani Yahya and Phil De Fries.

The UFC debut of Las Vegan Ulysses Gomez was disappointing. After agreeing to the fight on less than two weeks' notice, the 29-year-old was knocked out in the first round by John Moraga.

Manny Gamburyan and Nam Phan picked up decision wins, and Phil Davis and Wagner Prado fought to a no contest after Prado couldn't continue because of an accidental eye poke by Davis early in the fight.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.