UFC on FOX 15 results: Luke Rockhold dominates Lyoto Machida

The UFC on FOX 15 main event between Luke Rockhold and Lyoto Machida was a highly anticipated affair. The middleweight contenders' fight at Newark's Prudential Center figured to be a five-round chess match and a battle of attrition between competitors with similar skill sets.

Instead, the evening turned out to be Rockhold's coming-out party. The former Strikeforce middleweight champion made an emphatic case for a shot at UFC middleweight titleholder Chris Weidman. Rockhold battered the former UFC light heavyweight champion on Saturday before finishing him in the second round, scoring a tapout via rear naked choke at 2:31 of the second round.

Rockhold (14-2) took advantage of an early slip by Machida, and from there, dominated the round to the point it may have been 10-8. Rockhold's smooth transitions on the ground enabled him to work submission and deliver nasty ground-and-pound. A late elbow really rattled Machida (22-6), who was lucky to escape the round.

"I landed a clean elbow at the end of the first round, I saw him wobble to the corner, I knew he was hurt," Rockhold said. "I knew I had him."

It was clear Machida's cobwebs had not cleared by the time the second round started, and it didn't take long for Rockhold to take advantage. Once Rockhold got the fight back to the mat, it was only a matter of time, as he got Machida's back and sunk in the RNC for the win.

It was the ninth submission win for the American Kickboxing Academy fighter and his fourth straight finish, which is second behind Ronda Rousey's five for the longest such active UFC streak.

The win was Rockhold's fourth in a row. After the fight, he visualized fighting Weidman across the Hudson River from Newark at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

"Look I did my part," Rockhold said. "Weidman, you go do your part. I want to take this across the way. Madison Square Garden, let's make history."

To make such a fight, first, Weidman, a New Yorker, would have to defeat Vitor Belfort at UFC 187; and the state of New York would have to legalize MMA, which has a decent shot at passing this year.