[sigallery id=”vJhZUQDvmh4C2Hk4bY7pAa” title=”Miocic def. Dos Santos” type=”sigallery”]

DALLAS – Stipe Miocic avenged a decision loss to Junior Dos Santos, stopping the former champ in the first round to notch his second title defense.

After a grueling five-round slog with Dos Santos (18-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) in 2014, Miocic (17-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) cornered Dos Santos and caught him with a right hand that set up a TKO at the 2:22 mark of the first round.

The heavyweight title fight headlined today’s UFC 211 event at American Airlines Center in Dallas. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and UFC Fight Pass.

Rather than call out his next foe, the heavyweight champ used his post-fight speech to give a mother’s day shoutout while looking forward to kitchen renovations back home – and, of course, he proclaimed himself the world’s best heavyweight.

Although Miocic got it done early, he sported a nasty injury on his shin and limped after the fight, the result of a checked kick early on.

“That was terrible – it hurt,” the 34-year-old Cleveland native said afterward. “The one time I checked it. It was a good game plan.”

Miocic, the No. 1 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, caught the shin shot carrying out that game plan, which involved pressuring Dos Santos to the cage early and unloading big punches. As in previous fights, Dos Santos was willing to play with fire against the cage, hoping to dodge big shots before countering and slipping out of range.

Miocic simply kept the pressure up and snuck in a straight right hand that dropped the ex-champ to the mat. After several unanswered punches to the side of Dos Santos’ head, referee Herb Dean had seen enough and called off the bout.

Dos Santos, the No. 5 heavyweight, had hoped to win back the title he held for 13 months after knocking out now-former champ Cain Velasquez in 2011. After a rematch and rubber match with Velasquez ended in a lopsided losses, he bounced back with a unanimous decision over Miocic, then a rising prospect.

The 2014 fight was a bloody affair for both fighters, who battered each other over five rounds. Miocic landed a higher percentage of significant strikes, and yet Dos Santos came away with a unanimous decision.

No judges would be needed for the rematch, however. Miocic’s early work made sure of that.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 211 results include:

• Stipe Miocic def. Junior Dos Santos via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:22
• Joanna Jedrzejczyk def. Jessica Andrade via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-45)
• Demian Maia def. Jorge Masvidal via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Frankie Edgar def. Yair Rodriguez via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
• David Branch def. Krzysztof Jotko via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier declared no-contest (accidental knee) – Round 2, 4:12
• Jason Knight def. Chas Skelly via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:39
• Chase Sherman def. Rashad Coulter via TKO (elbow) – Round 2, 3:36
• James Vick def. Marco Polo Reyes via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:39
• Cortney Casey def. Jessica Aguilar via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Enrique Barzola def. Gabriel Benitez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Gadzhimurad Antigulov def. Joachim Christensen via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:21

For more on UFC 211, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Dallas.)