Souza stops Derek Brunson at UFC on Fox 27

There was a lot more at stake when UFC middleweight contenders Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Derek Brunson entered the cage Saturday night than when they first met six years ago on a Strikeforce card.

The result, however, was almost exactly the same.

Souza recorded a first-round knockout in the main event of UFC on Fox 27 in Charlotte, North Carolina, to solidify his place among the elite at 185 pounds.

The win made the day even more special for Souza and his wife.

“I feel great,” he said after a head kick led to a series of punches on the ground to end the bout at 3:50 of the first round. “Today is my anniversary, so I want to tell her that I love her and thank you for everything. I train with great guys, and this was thanks to them, too.”

Souza needed 41 seconds to finish Brunson the first time they fought.

Saturday’s victory was his 11th in the past 13 fights, with the losses against current champ Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero, who will fight for the interim belt next month with Whittaker sidelined because of an illness.

Andre Fili has his eyes on bigger things in the featherweight division after securing the first two-fight winning streak of his UFC career with a split decision over Dennis Bermudez.

Fili had alternated wins and losses in his first nine fights in the organization before using his reach advantage to control distance and keep Bermudez off balance enough to get the victory despite getting outstruck.

The Team Alpha Male product did manage four takedowns in the win.

“I felt like I had won the fight for sure, so the split decision was a head scratcher,” Fili said. “I wasn’t worried, though. I believed in myself. Obviously, Dennis is known for his wrestling, but I can wrestle my butt off, and it was cool to show that side of things tonight because I don’t think that people knew I had that takedown ability.”

Lightweight prospect Gregor Gillespie remained undefeated in 11 pro fights and improved to 4-0 in the UFC with a dominant first-round stoppage of Jordan Rinaldi.

Gillespie worked the fight to the ground, then battered Rinaldi with punches on the mat to force the finish at 4:46.

The surging contender has no shortage of confidence.

“I don’t mean to sound abrasive when I say this, but this wasn’t an incredible performance,” Gillespie said. “This was a normal performance. This is what I do and, when you do it every time, it’s no longer incredible. It should be expected. Sometimes it’s grittier like my first UFC win in Brazil and sometimes it’s total domination like tonight.”

Also on the main card, lightweight Drew Dober won a unanimous decision over Frank Camacho in an entertaining slugfest to kick off the broadcast.

Featherweight prospect Mirsad Bektic highlighted the preliminary card with a first-round knockout of Godofredo Pepey on a body punch.

Lightweight Bobby Green earned a unanimous decision over Erik Koch, and Vinc Pinchel took two of three rounds on all three cards of a lightweight bout against Joaquim Silva.

Welterweight Niko Price submitted George Sullivan in the second round, and featherweight Cory Sandhagen knocked out Austin Arnett in the second round.

Randa Markos, Ji Yeon Kim and Katlyn Chookagian won decisions in women’s bouts.

Chookagian made a successful flyweight debut with a unanimous decision over Mara Romero Borella, and Markos took all three rounds over Juliana Lima in a strawweight bout.

Kim won a split verdict over veteran flyweight Justine Kish.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.