UFC Fight Night 55 results: Jake Matthews chokes out black belt Vagner Rocha

SYDNEY – Even those who picked Jake Matthews to beat Vagner Rocha probably didn’t think he’d do it by submission, which is reasonable, considering that no one in MMA had ever done it before.

But after stunning Rocha (11-4 MMA, 1-3 UFC) with a hard right hand early on in the second, Matthews (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) wasted no time shoving the wounded Brazilian to the mat and locking on a rear-naked choke that eventually put Rocha to sleep, bringing a stop to the bout at 1:52 of Round 2.

The lightweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night55 event at Allphones Arena in Sydney. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

The fight was a close one throughout the first frame, with Matthews looking to score mainly on leg kicks. With an isolated right hand here or there, he reminded Rocha of his power, but never with anything hard enough to change the complexion of the fight. Rocha, for his part, seemed to want the fight on the floor, and he event attempted a kimura near the end of the round, to no avail.

It was early in the second when Matthews channeled his inner Georges St-Pierre, using a superman punch to launch the right hand that sent Rocha staggering back. Matthews quickly shoved him to the floor, followed with a couple short punches, then locked in the choke without sinking his hooks.

Rocha rolled to escape, but Matthews stayed with him. When referee John Sharp went to check Rocha for signs of consciousness, what he got instead was a limp, unresponsive body.

The win makes it two in a row in the UFC for Matthews. Rocha loses for the first time since February of 2012.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 55 results include:

For complete coverage of UFC 179, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie correspondent Michael Spencer contributed to this report on site in Sydney.)