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On what will no doubt be remembered as the biggest night in the relatively short history of mixed martial arts, the sport's biggest star suffered a quick, devastating defeat.

Quinton (Rampage) Jackson won the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title, stopping Chuck (the Iceman) Liddell at 1:53 seconds of the first round, in front of a full house at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The much-hyped main event became the latest in a series of UFC upsets, though since Jackson already held a win over Liddell when he was part of the Pride Fighting circuit, perhaps it shouldn't have come as such a surprise.

In any case, the end came quickly, shocking a crowd that had greeted Liddell like a conquering hero.

Following a minute and a half during which Jackson pursued and Liddell retreated, Liddell threw an awkward right hand at Jackson's body. The punch left him off balance and wide open. Jackson countered with a looping right hand that caught Liddell on the chin. Liddell dropped, clearly hurt, and Jackson was immediately on top of him, raining down punches and elbows, forcing referee John McCarthy to stop the contest.

"I just got caught," Liddell said.

The pay-per-view portion of the undercard also featured a couple of surprises. Houston Alexander, making his UFC debut, knocked out the heavily-favoured Keith (Dean of Mean) Jardine 48 seconds into the first round of a light heavyweight bout. Jardine threw a left hook that appeared to wobble Alexander, though in fact he was only off balance. When Jardine attacked, Alexander rocked him with a series of punches, mostly uppercuts, that eventually left him face down and unconscious on the canvas.

Kalib Starnes of Burnaby, B.C., won a unanimous decision victory over flamboyant Chris Leben in a middleweight bout, and appeared to deserve it. But interviewed in the ring afterwards, he disagreed with the judges. "I would have given [Leben] the nod in that fight myself," Starnes said.

Ivan Salaverry, who was born in Toronto and resides in Seattle, lost his middleweight fight with Terry Martin when the referee stopped the contest at 2:04 of the first round. Martin threw Salaverry to the canvas, where he landed heavily on his left shoulder. Salaverry offered little resistance as Martin pounded away, forcing the stoppage.

In what had been the most anticipated bout of the undercard, Karo Parisyan dominated his fight with Josh Burkman, throwing crisp punches, and twice dropping Burkman with judo throws to win a unanimous decision.