Denver’s Brendan Schaub made a big statement for more attention after the heavyweight stopped veteran Croatian Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic for a third-round TKO at UFC 128 in Newark, N.J., on Saturday.
The former University of Colorado football player got Filipovic (27-9) to the mat before getting off several blows. One heavy hit to Filipovic’s head sent the referee running to stop the fight at 3:24.
Schaub, who turned 28 on Friday, improved his record to 8-1.
In a middleweight bout, Aurora’s Nate Marquardt earned a unanimous decision victory over Dan Miller, winning on each judge’s card 30-27.
Marquardt (31-10-2) rebounded after losing an eliminator fight last November to Yushin Okami in Germany. Okami earned a title fight. Marquardt is now trying to fight his way back to the big stage.
And in the main event, Jon Jones defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in three rounds.
Jones, a 23-year-old fighter from New York, is the brother of Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Arthur Jones.
