'Special' star continues meteoric rise with brutal victory

Alex Pereira has continued to tear through his UFC rivals, knocking out Jiri Prochazka early in the second round to retain his light-heavyweight world title.

Before the two gladiators even touched gloves at UFC 303, an epic staredown brought the fans to their feet, with neither fighter flinching or batting an eyelid.

Pereira dropped Prochazka right on the bell at the end of the first round with a left hook, but the doctors cleared the challenger to continue.

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Just moments into the second round, Pereira scored with a ferocious head kick that dropped Prochazka to the mat, before referee Herb Dean waved it off for a TKO.

"My goodness ... he is something special," Joe Rogan said on commentary.

"He has been talking about going up to heavyweight and I say, let him go. 

Pereira has become one of the biggest stars in the UFC since making the switch from kickboxing, already winning championships in two different weight classes.

The powerful Brazilian is now setting his sights on becoming the first three-division champion in UFC history and said post-fight he was open to moving up.

"I've been saying all week I was gonna come out here and be victorious," he said.

"I don't know what the next step is. I think that's in my future ... there doesn't seem to be too much interest, but I'm here and I'm available.

"The fans have a lot of say in this. If this is what they want, it's gonna be inevitable."

The 36-year-old was recently on a tour in Australia, before being called up by the UFC to replace the injured Conor McGregor in the main event of the the pay-per-view.

Pereira has previously defeated the likes of Israel Adesanya and Jamahal Hill, with his professional MMA record now improving to 11-2.