Rockhold dominates Machida to earn submission victory at UFC on FOX 15

Luke Rockhold put a stamp on his call for a UFC middleweight title shot with a huge win over Lyoto Machida at UFC on FOX 15 in Newark, N.J., on Saturday.

Rockhold dominated the fight from start to finish and came out with crisp, precise striking and superb grappling in the first round to overwhelm Machida early on. Outworking his opponent in every aspect of the fight, Rockhold held his opponent down at the end of the round and unleashed a flurry of shots to wobble Machida.

In the second round, Rockhold continued to take care of business and rocked Machida several times before getting him down to the ground again and finally finishing him with a rear-naked choke.

Rockhold becomes the third fighter to ever finish Machida and will likely be the next opponent for the winner of the upcoming middleweight title bout between champion Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort at UFC 187.