Get ready for a new era in the UFC's light-heavyweight division.

The past few weeks have seen mixed martial arts explode on the national stage. Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, the UFC light-heavyweight champion, had become the face of mixed martial arts in North America with each devastating knockout.

Liddell had one blemish on his record that was not avenged and he hoped to erase that black mark with a victory over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in the main event of UFC 71 last night at the MGM Grand Garden.

But Jackson ruined Liddell's plans and scored a devastating first-round knockout over Liddell, stunning the sellout crowd, which was completely behind the UFC poster boy and probably hadn't seen many of Jackson's fights that took place in Japan for PRIDE Fighting Championships.

"It's going to be like this for a long time," said Jackson, an Irvine, Calif., resident who was born and raised in Memphis.

"I got caught," Liddell said. "What do you want me to say?" Liddell has won seven consecutive fights, all by KO or TKO, since suffering a second-round TKO loss to Jackson in the semifinals of PRIDE's 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix.

Liddell had an aura of invincibility during his string of victories, while Jackson had mixed results in recent years, including an uninspiring second-round TKO victory over Marvin Eastman in his UFC debut Feb. 3.

Jackson made his way to the Octagon wearing his trademark junkyard chain around his neck, stopping to howl like a werewolf as he savored every moment on his approach. The crowd, firmly behind Liddell, booed Jackson when he finally stepped into the cage after the long entrance.

Liddell made his way to the Octagon as if he were double-parked and wanted to make this a quick night. The crowd let out a deafening roar when Liddell stepped in the cage.

Neither fighter backed away from the staredown as referee "Big" John McCarthy gave the final instructions.

Both fighters started off cautious, respecting each other's power from the first encounter. Liddell pawed with his jab and moved away looking for an opportunity to counter.

Jackson was the aggressor, looking for opportunities to cut off the ring.

The two combatants went through the feeling-out process for the first 90 seconds before Liddell unloaded with a left hook. Jackson responded immediately with an overhand right that had Liddell backing up.

Liddell continued to flick out jabs and move to keep his distance from Jackson, but it wasn't long before Jackson found his opportunity.

Liddell started to throw a right hand and Jackson uncorked a right hook that nailed Liddell square on the chin.

Liddell hit the canvas in a heap and Jackson pounced on him. Jackson landed six consecutive punches and hammer fists. Liddell's body went limp after the first three and McCarthy finally pulled Jackson off him and ending the fight at 1:53 of the first round.

Jackson (27-6) was guaranteed $225,000 and earned an extra $225,000 for getting the victory. Liddell (20-4) was guaranteed $500,000 plus a percentage of the pay-per-view.

Dan Henderson, who holds the PRIDE 205- and 185-pound titles, jumped in the Octagon and issued a challenge to Jackson after the fight. The two are good friends.

"Quinton's my friend, Chuck's my friend, we're all friends," Henderson said. "This is a sport and a business. I'd like to make some money with my friends." Jackson accepted the challenge.

"It's about time we get some paper," Jackson said.

On the undercard, light-heavyweight Houston Alexander upset Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine, crumpling the favorite with a series of hammer-like blows to the head. The slugfest ended with a knockout after just 48 seconds, with Alexander smashing Jardine with an uppercut that sent his mouthpiece flying. Alexander improved to 6-1, and Jardine dropped to 12-4-1.

Also, Karo "The Heat" Parisyan and Josh Burkman traded blows in an entertaining welterweight contest. Parisyan, whose background is in judo, showed good striking power and accuracy, wearing Burkman down en route to a unanimous decision.

Canadian middleweight Kalib Starnes unanimously outpointed Chris "The Crippler" Leben to raise his record to 10-2-1. Leben fell to 16-4.