QUEBEC CITY, Que. - Light-heavyweight Ryan (The Big Deal) Jimmo knocked out UFC newcomer Sean (The Real OC) O'Connell in the first round on the undercard of "The Ultimate Fighter Nations" finale card Wednesday.

Jimmo (19-3) felled O'Connell with a crunching counter straight right and then added three blows for good measure before the referee stepped in at four minutes 27 seconds.

With Jimmo leading the way, Canadian fighters went 5-1 on the undercard.

English middleweight Michael Bisping faced former Green Beret Tim Kennedy in the main event of the televised mixed martial arts card.

The main card also featured the all-Canadian welterweight and middleweight finals of "The Ultimate Fighter Nations" reality TV show as well as a welterweight matchup of the show's coaches: Montreal's Patrick (The Predator) Cote and Australian Kyle Noke.

A native of Saint John, N.B., who fights out of Edmonton, Jimmo survived a kick to the cup en route to the violent win over O'Connell (15-5). The KO punch, after five straight decisions to open the card, had the small crowd at the Colisee Pepsi roaring.

Jimmo, who like O'Connell fought in the Edmonton-based Maximum Fighting Championship, opened his UFC account in 2012 with a seven-second KO of Anthony (The Hippo) Perosh. He is now 2-2 in the UFC.

Former Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman of Victoria registered her first UFC win, earning a unanimous 30-27 decision over Leslie (The Peacemaker) Smith in a high-octane slugfest that saw the Canadian land 205 strikes to 111 for Smith. The margin was closer in significant strikes, with Kaufman leading 136-100.

Kaufman, ranked No. 5 among UFC bantamweight contenders, won a split decision when the two met in April 2013 on an Invicta FC card.

Kaufman (17-2 with one no contest) lost a decision to Jessica (Evil) Eye in her UFC debut in October but the decision was changed to a no contest when Eye tested positive for marijuana. Another fight last summer fell through when her opponent was injured.

Smith (6-5-1) took this fight on 10 days notice.

Veteran lightweight Mark Bocek of Woodbridge, Ont., returning to the cage for the first time since November 2012 after injury, won a slender 28-29, 20-27, 29-28 split decision over newcomer Mike (El Cucuy) de la Torre. Bocek (12-6 including 8-5 in the UFC) was perhaps fortunate to earn the decision and he exited the cage the more battered of the two.

The gritty De la Torre (12-4), who trains with former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, was a late injury replacement for Evan Dunham.

"I felt a little rusty in there but I'm back, and I will go onwards from here," said Bocek. "I've fought top guys like Ben Henderson before and I can get back to that level."

K.J. Noons needed just 30 seconds to knock out Sam (Hands of Stone) Stout of London, Ont., with a huge overhand right to the chin. Noons (12-6) did more damage before the refree could get to him to stop the action.

Stout (21-10-1) was so dazed that he tried to grapple with the referee after being knocked out and then fell backwards. But he was smiling soon after.

The fight was scheduled for lightweight (155 pounds) but was switched to welterweight at the request of both fighters. They weighed in at 168-169 pounds.

Bantamweight Mitch Gagnon of Sudbury, Ont., opened the card with a unanimous 30-27 decision over Tim (The Psycho) Gorman, whose stint on Season 18 of "The Ultimate Fighter" ended early through injury.

Gagnon (11-2) won his third straight in the UFC, punishing Gorman (9-3) for his offence-at-all-costs approach in his UFC debut.

"I'm happy with the win, but I can be more exciting than that, and I will show that next time," said Gagon.

In a battle of bearded Australia TUF Nations teammates, welterweight (Filthy) Rich Walsh (8-2) showed a better all-round game in earning a unanimous 30-27 decision over Chris (The Savage) Indich. The durable Indich (5-2) becomes the first indigenous Australian to fight in the UFC.

Montreal middleweight Nordine Taleb (9-2) used his superior grappling skills to score a one-sided 30-27 decision over Australian Vik (The Spartan) Grujic (6-4) in another matchup of TUF Nations cast members.

Lanky bantamweight George Roop (15-11-1) won a 29-28, 30-27, 29-26 decision over Dustin (The Diamond) Kimura (12-2).

The card marked the UFC's first in Quebec City, which became the sixth Canadian city to host an event after Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg. Halifax is scheduled to join the UFC club in October with a televised card

The UFC has held 14 pay-per-view shows in Canada: six in Montreal, four in Toronto, two in Vancouver and one in each of Calgary and Winnipeg.

Pay-per-views are slated later this year in Vancouver (UFC 174, June 14), Toronto (UFC 178, Sept. 27) and Montreal (UFC 181, Dec. 6).

Wednesday's show also marked the debut of Canada's own Octagon. The UFC had been using American cages but this Octagon is dedicated for Canada.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2014