UFC heavyweight champion Randy "The Natural" Couture, again, knew something everyone else didn't.

Less than two months after beating Tim Sylvia for the title, Couture was about the only person of note in the MMA world to pick Gabriel Gonzaga to beat Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at UFC 70 in Manchester, England.

But that's what happened, as the unheralded world jiu-jitsu champion from Ludlow, MA earned the next title shot at Couture by dominating the entire first round, then finishing the fight with a ridiculous Cro Cop-esque kick to the head for a KO at 4:51.

"I trained very hard, mentally and physically, for this fight and I was aiming for the knockout," Gonzaga said at the post-show press conference.  "I had the opportunity and I took it."

Gonzaga (8-1) took the standup game to the PRIDE 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix champion from the get-go, never letting Cro Cop (22-5-2) settle into a groove. Gonzaga was willing to eat a Cro Cop kick in order to shoot in for a takedown, then attacked aggressively from the top, mixing up elbows with solid punches and opening a cut just beneath Mirko's hairline.

Referee Herb Dean ordered a standup in the final minute, which appeared to give Cro Cop the opportunity to get his head back together and play  his game. But instead Gonzaga capitalized with a nasty right KO kick. Mirko's right knee also appeared to bend at a horrible angle as he hit the mat.

This marked the third consecutive stunning end to a major UFC show, as Couture's win over Sylvia was followed by Matt Serra's TKO of Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title at UFC 69 in Houston on April 7 heading into Saturday's show.

Will Couture become the next to fall victim to the favorites' curse? In making his prediction, Couture said he'd rather fight Mirko than Gonzaga Part of the reason for this is that Couture has historically had trouble with larger heavyweights on the ground. Gonzaga's jiu-jitsu is stellar, which he demonstrated with his submission win over Carmelo Marrero at UFC 66; he has knockout power in his punches, as he demonstrated against Kevin Jordan, and, oh yeah, he isn't afraid to take on Mirko Cro Cop and beat him at his own game.

Couture vs. Gonzaga is slated for either August or September. Yes, the UFC just lost their Couture vs. Cro Cop match. But they just gained a fight that could be just as intriguing.