In the event's other world title fights, Rose Namajunas stunned Weili Zhang to take the strawweight belt while flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko totally dominated Jessica Andrade.

The sold-out event touted as the first full-capacity sporting event held indoors in more than a year was one to forget for Australian light heavyweight Jimmy Crute.

Anthony Smith connected a kick with Crute's left leg and left him struggling to stand.

Crute hobbled to his corner between rounds and tried to come back out for the second, but doctors stopped the fight after preliminary diagnosing it as a torn knee ligament.

"I couldn't feel my leg," Crute said.

"I couldn't stand on it."

Worse was to come in the next fight with former middleweight champion Chris Weidman breaking his right leg kicking Uriah Hall in the opening seconds of their bout.

Welterweight champion Usman extended his winning streak to 18 straight by knocking out Jorge Masvidal with a right punch to the jaw early in the second round and retaining his belt.

Usman's knockout victory was his third in his past four fights.

"Jacksonville, Florida, you said you wanted violence. You're welcome," Usman said.

Usman (19-1) thanked Masvidal (35-15) for scaring him and pushing him, saying it's been a long time since he felt nervous before a bout.

This one was a rematch from their short-notice fight in July that the 33-year-old Usman won in Abu Dhabi by unanimous decision.

Some thought Masvidal would have a better chance with a full training session. The Miami native did not.

"It hurt because I've never been knocked out before," Masvidal said.

"He's got my number, man."

It was the last of three title bouts, but hardly the most surprising.

Namajunas (11-4) sent Zhang (21-2) to the canvas with a left kick to the face, and the bout was stopped at the 1:18 minute mark of the opening round.

Flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko (21-3) totally dominated Jessica Andrade (21-9) to retain her belt, slamming her Brazilian opponent to the canvas at will.

She eventually won a TKO in round two after a series of bludgeoning blows to the helpless Andrade's head.

Australian Associated Press