IT WAS a successful return in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for former middleweight world champion Luke Rockhold as he submitted David Branch in the second round of their main event at “UFC Fight Night 116” in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, yesterday.

Fighting for the first time since losing his title in June last year, Mr. Rockhold overcame a slow start to turn things around in the second round to finish Mr. Branch by submission through punches and mark his return in the win column.

Mr. Branch started out aggressively, landing combinations that seemingly hurt the former champion.

But Mr. Rockhold would shake off of things, finishing the round strong by taking down his opponent for some ground and pound.

Getting some momentum, Mr. Rockhold took the fight to Mr. Branch to start the second frame, connecting on some low kicks.

He eventually got Mr. Branch to a takedown which pretty signaled the end for the latter.

Mr. Branch tried to squeeze his way out from the clutches of Mr. Rockhold but only found himself in an even tougher position when he rolled over as the former took advantage of the situation to land heavy punches that moved referee Dan Miragliotta to eventually stop the fight at the 4:05 mark of the second round.

The win improved Mr. Rockhold to 16-3 while Mr. Branch dropped to 21-3 and saw his 11-fight winning streak come to an end.

After the victory, Mr. Rockhold made known of what he wanted next now that he is back in harness, even taking a shot at UFC welterweight legend Georges St. Pierre who is eyeing a shot at the middleweight gold against reigning champion Michael Bisping.

“I’m coming for that belt. GSP, you want me to beat some sense in to you? You don’t belong here. This is my fight,” Mr. Rockhold said in the post-fight interview.

In earlier fights, welterweight Mike Perry knocked out Alex Reyes in the first round, middleweight Anthony Smith beat Hector Lombard in the third round by technical knockout, lightweight Gregor Gillespie submitted Jason Gonzalez in the second round by arm triangle, welterweight Kamaru Usman knocked out Sergio Moraes in the opening round, and heavyweight Justin Ledet defeated Azunna Anyanwu by split decision (28-29, 29-28 and 29-28).

Next for the UFC is “UFC Fight Night 117” on Sept. 23 in Saitama, Japan, that will feature the light heavyweight collision between Ovince Saint Preux against Yushin Okami of Japan, who replaced Mauricio “Shogun” Rua because of injury.

Also in the card is Filipino featherweight Rolando Dy who will fight Teruto Ishihara.

In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost direct-to-home (DTH) company, is the home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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