Munoz falls to Machida, title hopes in disarray

MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino Mark Munoz's bid to climb the middleweight title leader got derailed after getting knocked out cold via head kick by a friend and former sparring partner Lyoto Machida in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the Phones 4U Arena in Manchester, England Sunday.

Machida, a Japanese-Brazilian nicknamed "The Dragon" who was a last-minute replacement to Michael Bisping due to eye problem, had no problem transitioning from light heavy to middleweight as he needed just a little over three minutes in finishing off Munoz, whom he trained and sparred for a long time.

After unloading kicks to the body in the uneventful first two mintues of their fight, Machida went to the head and connected solidly, sending Munoz down, sprawling and dazed to the canvas where the former went for the kill.

But as Machida moved on to pounce like a predator to his prey and cocked his massive right fist but, seeing a fallen friend Munoz, hesitated, allowing referee Leon Roberts to move in and waved off the fight.

“It’s very hard for me because Mark is a good friend to me, but as a professional I can’t think about that,” Machida said during the post-fight interview at the Octagon. "I have to do my job.”

The win improved Machida's record to 20-4 (win-loss) while lining him for a potential title shot against reigning middleweight titlist Chris Weidman, or perhaps an equally interesting duel with former champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva.

As for Munoz, known as "The Filipino Wrecking Machine," he fell to his fourth defeat against 13 wins, and worse, sent his title aspirations sraight to the backseat.

Meanwhile, Guamanian John Tuck, who fought on Phl soil via the Pacific XTreme Combat fight outfit where he wound up undefeated before his UFC climb, suffered his first loss after a successful UFC debut last year as he bowed to Norman Parke via unanimous decision.

Scores were 29-28 and 30-27 in favor of Parke, who improved to 20-2.

Tuck fell to 7-1.