Amanda Nunes knocked out Cris "Cyborg" Justino 51 seconds into the first round at UFC 232 on Saturday night, ending the featherweight champion's 13-year unbeaten run with one of the most surprising victories in mixed martial arts history.
Jon Jones also reclaimed his light heavyweight title in his return from a 17-month cage absence, stopping Alexander Gustafsson with strikes on the ground in the third round.
Nunes, the UFC's bantamweight champion, made history when she moved up 10 pounds to challenge Justino (20-2), widely considered the world's greatest female fighter.
She became the third fighter in UFC history to hold two title belts simultaneously, joining Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier.
"I knew this was happening, I told you all!" Nunes said.
"Cris is a great fighter, nothing but respect. It was an awesome opportunity to share the octagon with her. I'm very thankful to her for this. I'm the new 'champ-champ.' I said that before, and now I'm just achieving this dream."
The 31-year-old Jones had fought only twice in the previous 47 months, losing an enormous chunk of his fighting prime due to his misbehaviour.
During 2015 alone, he tested positive for cocaine use and was later stripped of his 205-pound title because of a hit-and-run accident in which he broke a pregnant woman's arm.
He returned in early 2016, but was pulled from a title bout at UFC 200 later that year after testing positive for two banned substances often taken in concert with steroid use.
In the early fights, Australian featherweights Alexander Volkanovski and Megan Anderson each had a notable stoppage win.
Volkanovski stretched his MMA win streak to 16 and UFC record to 6-0 , with a second round TKO over former world title contender Chad Mendes.
The 30-year-old from Windang on the NSW south coast, did well with his jab and quickly got back to his feet after some takedowns and being floored early in the second.
Volkanovski then took control, nailing American Mendes with several hard shots to earn the win over an opponent ranked fifth, five places above the Australian.
Anderson, who lost her UFC debut to Holly Holm earlier this year, scored an unusual first round TKO win over fifth-ranked bantamweight Cat Zingano,
The bout was stopped after the Gold coast fighter landed a left-foot kick to the right eye of her American opponent.
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