Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold picked up his first UFC win in impressive fashion, stopping Constantinos Philippou with a body kick in the first round of the UFC Fight Night 35 main event in Duluth, Ga.
Rockhold (11–2) bounced back from a knockout loss to Vitor Belfort, while Philippou (12–4, 1 NC) has now lost two straight in the UFC.
“I’m not here to be good; I’m here to be great,” Rockhold said after his win. “I want my rematch [with Belfort] and I would like it here in the States. I’ll go through anybody I have to to get that, especially Michael Bisping, actually. That would be nice.”
In the co-main event, fellow 185-pounders Brad Tavares and Lorenz Larkin battled for three rounds with Tavares winning a unanimous decision.
Yoel Romero stormed back from a two-round deficit to finish Derek Brunson by TKO in the third and fracture his jaw in the process. Romero, a former Olympic wrestler for Cuba, is now 3-0 in the middleweight division with three impressive knockout wins.
Also on the main card, bantamweight contender T.J. Dillashaw was impressive in a unanimous decision win over Mike Easton, as was Cole Miller who submitted Sam Sicilia in featherweight action.
Here are the full UFC Fight Night 35 results:
MAIN CARD
— Luke Rockhold def. Constantinos Philippou by TKO
— Brad Tavares def. Lorenz Larkin by unanimous decision
— T.J. Dillashaw def. Mike Easton by unanimous decision
— Yoel Romero def. Derek Brunson by TKO
— John Moraga def. Dustin Ortiz by split decision
— Cole Miller def. Sam Sicilia by submission
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Ramsey Nijem def. Justin Edwards by unanimous decision
— Elias Silverio def. Isaac Vallie-Flagg by unanimous decision
— Trevor Smith def. Brian Houston by split decision
— Louis Smolka def. Alptekin Ozkilic by unanimous decision
— Vinc Pichel def. Garett Whiteley by unanimous decision
— Beneil Dariush def. Charlie Brenneman by submission
