Former Strikeforce prospect Shane Del Rosario made his Octagon debut at tonight's (Sat., May 26, 2012) UFC 146: "Dos Santos vs. Mir" event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a heavyweight showdown against Stipe Miocic.

It was Rosario's first fight back since getting injured in a car accident last year. Miocic, meanwhile, came in on the strength of an undefeated record and a 43-second "Knockout of the Night" winning performance in his last bout.

He may not be winning any awards for this performance, but he did show off a new facet to his game, as he used some powerful ground-n-pound to open Del Rosario up and finish him off via technical knockout in the second round.

Miocic improves to 9-0 while handing Del Rosario the first loss of his career.

Miocic came out throwing combinations and mixing in kicks. Del Rosario answered with the same, though he was going to the body. Naturally, Joe Rogan keyed on these kicks and put an added emphasis on them, seeing as that was the basis of Shane's early attack.

Despite this, Stipe remained aggressive.

Then, the former Strikeforce heavy landed a solid shot that had Miocic fading back and Del Rosario running across the cage to get to him. He never got there, but the message was received, loud and clear.

Miocic tried a late takedown to steal the round, but it wasn't enough to cancel out the damage Del Rosario was dealing for the first five minutes.

Instead of bothering to stand and trade with him in the second, Miocic simply took Del Rosario down and worked from top. It wasn't a popular strategy but it was highly effective.

In fact, his punches and elbows opened up a cut and it wasn't long before Del Rosario was bleeding like a stuck pig. Not long after, the referee stepped in for the save and just like that, Miocic impresses again.

Or did he?

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