[sigallery id=”vExW8TyDhmEWDKiak9uJ8a” title=”Glover Teixeira def. Rashad Evans, UFC on FOX 19″ type=”sigallery”]

TAMPA, Fla. – Onetime title challenger Glover Teixeira stayed in the hunt for another shot at the belt with an authoritative knockout of ex-champ Rashad Evans.

Teixeira (25-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) chased down Evans (19-5-1 MMA, 14-5-1 UFC), whose counters did little to deter his Brazilian foe, before a left hook set the fight’s end in motion.

The light heavyweight bout was the main event of today’s UFC on FOX 19 event at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. It aired on FOX following prelims on FOX and UFC Fight Pass.

The fight’s end came at the 1:48 mark of the first round, when Evans slumped face first to the mat after taking Teixeira’s left hook on the chin. Subsequent right hands gave Teixeira, a short-notice replacement for the injured ex-champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, his third straight win.

Afterward, Teixeira, 36, called out fellow onetime title challenger Anthony Johnson, exclaiming, “Let’s make some money!”

With an interim title up for grabs between ex-champ Jon Jones and Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 197, and the winner of that bout expected to meet champ Daniel Cormier in a unifier, Teixeira reasoned that the time was right for a meeting with Johnson.

“I respect him,” Teixiera, the No. 5 ranked fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie light heavyweight rankings,
said. “But this is business.”

It was another tough night at the office for No. 9 ranked Evans, who’s now lost two straight since almost two years on the sidelines due to injury. The 36-year-old ex-champ said he wanted to remain in the moment against Teixeira. But he found little time to do much other than defend himself against his opponent’s pressure.

On a few occasions, Evans managed to catch Teixeira coming in, resetting in the center of the cage. When the fight-altering punch landed, however, he was trapped against the fence and had nowhere to go.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on FOX 19 results include:

• Glover Teixeira def. Rashad Evans via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:48
• Rose Namajunas def. Tecia Torres via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Darrell Horcher via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:38
• Cub Swanson def. Hacran Dias via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Michael Chiesa def. Beneil Dariush via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:20h
• Raquel Pennington def. Bethe Correia via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Court McGee via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:15
• Michael Graves def. Randy Brown via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:31
• John Dodson def. Manny Gamburyan via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:47
• Cezar Ferreira def. Oluwale Bamgbose via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
• Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos def. Omari Akhmedov via TKO (knees) – Round 3, 3:03

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 19, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Matt Erickson and Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on site in Tampa.)