Romero stuns Machida with third-round knockout

Yoel Romero picked up the biggest win of his career with a vicious third-round knockout over former champion Lyoto Machida to cap off UFC Fight Night from Hollywood, Fla., on Saturday.

Romero came into the fight as a slight underdog, but considering his huge power and Olympic level wrestling, he was a popular upset pick to take out Machida, who was returning just two months after his last loss in the Octagon.

For anyone who was picking Romero, the Cuban-born wrestler certainly proved them correct with a devastating performance to beat Machida and get the win.

Known as a slow starter, Romero tried to time his strikes throughout the opening round while Machida countered with a slew of kicks to the legs and the body. Romero finally started to unleash about two minutes in when he caught Machida with a hard punch that backed the Brazilian up.

Romero started a bit slow in the second round, but he found a way to cut the Octagon off and give Machida less space to work with, and the Cuban started unloading a series of hard left hands.

The Olympic silver medalist attempted a jumping knee and even a Superman punch off the cage, not only showing his versatility, but clearly displaying his disregard for whatever Machida was throwing at him through the first two rounds.

As the third round started, Romero looked like he was toying with the former UFC champion as he tossed out his punches and continued to punish Machida on the feet.

Finally after two rounds of striking with Machida on the feet, the multi-time wrestling champion finally put the Brazilian on the mat with a beautiful inside trip that took the fight to the ground for the first time.

It didn't take Romero long to uncork a series of punches before transitioning to an inside elbow strike that rattled Machida's jaw as his eyes rolled back into his head. Romero continued to hammer away with a few more elbows and Machida's arms went limp as the referee swooped in to stop the fight before things could get any worse.

The stoppage came at 1:38 into the third round handing Romero the biggest win of his MMA career.

The victory puts Romero directly in line for a potential No. 1 contender's fight for his next trip to the Octagon, possibly against Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza, who Romero was supposed to meet on two separate occasions before injuries delayed the fight.

Romero has never been a fighter to talk trash or call for title shots. Saturday night was no different after his win over Machida.

"Whoever God puts in my path," Romero answered when asked who he wanted to face next.

Romero remains undefeated in the UFC with a perfect 6-0 record with five of victories coming by way of knockout or TKO.

On the flipside, Machida has now dropped two fights in a row within the past two months. The former light heavyweight champion fell by way of rear naked choke to top-ranked contender Luke Rockhold in April before accepting the fight with Romero in Florida.

Machida has dropped back-to-back fights for only the second time in his career, and it's a massive step back for the former top-ranked middleweight, who at 37 years of age would have a very tall mountain to climb if he hoped to get back into title contention one day soon.