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Vitor Belfort delivered one of the most spectacular knockouts of his career on Saturday, beating Luke Rockhold in the first round of the main event of "UFC on FX 8: Belfort vs. Rockhold."

Known as an aggressive striker, Belfort (23-10) instead paced himself as the engaged in the early going and showed restraint by not overcommitting against the larger Rockhold (10-2).

But when the opportunity presented itself, Belfort delivered an incredible spinning heel kick that landed flush on Rockhold's chin and sent him toppling to the floor. Belfort pounced with a flurry of punches on the ground, and referee Leon Roberts called off the fight at the 2:32 mark of the first round.

Belfort, who has been heavily criticized in some circles for his commission-approved use of testosterone-replacement therapy improves to 4-1 in his past five fights and may have moved himself back into title contention at 185 pounds. The Brazilian is now 10-2 in the past six years with both losses coming to the men largely considered the world's two best fighters in Jon Jones and Anderson Silva.

Still, Belfort said he'll wait for the UFC to issue his next assignment rather than ask for a specific opportunity.

"I'm here to fight," Belfort said after the win. "I don't pick fights. I accept fights."

Belfort was awarded a US$50,000 bonus cheque as the evening's "Knockout of the Night."

In the night's co-feature, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (18-3) flashed his impressive jiu-jitsu skills in a first-round stoppage win over Chris Camozzi (19-6).

Souza wasted little time getting the fight to the floor in the opening round, and while Camozzi showed capable defence for several minutes, "Jacare" was too much on the floor. The multiple time jiu-jitsu world champion quickly latched on an arm-triangle choke and squeezed tight, putting Camozzi to sleep in mere seconds. The official time came at the 3:37 mark of the first frame.

With an impressive win in his UFC debut, Souza immediately establishes himself as a contender in the promotion's 185-pound division.

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Manchester United announced Thursday that more than $290 million of its high-interest debt has been refinanced, cutting the club's interest costs by around $15 million a year.

Fresh from winning a 20th English title and undergoing an apparently smooth managerial succession, United said it has secured a new loan from Bank of America with far lower interest rates.

United has refinanced 177.78 million pounds ($269 million) of outstanding 8.75 per cent interest sterling bonds and $22.09 million of 8.375 per cent dollar bonds.

The new loan from June 24 will have an estimated starting interest rate of around 2.78 per cent. Interest payments should come down from around 31 million pounds to 21 million pounds per year ($31.7 million), United said in a statement.

United, which is owned by the American Glazer family and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has approximately halved its total debts to 370 million pounds ($559.4 million) in three years.

The refinancing package appears to indicate investor confidence in both the business and the first managerial change at Old Trafford since 1986, with David Moyes replacing Alex Ferguson.

"It shows that the infrastructure is in place and the decision they made on the managerial front is viewed as, not negative, but positive," Majid Ishaq, managing director of financial advisory group Rothschild, told The Associated Press.

"They are in a position today where they have gone back to the market to refinance that particular part of the financing on very attractive terms because they have really delivered, and grown the underlying revenue and profitability."

United said earlier this month it is on course to generate more than 350 million pounds ($530 million) this season after earning a record 91.7 million pounds ($139 million) in the three months to March 31. Net profit more than trebled year-on-year to 3.6 million pounds ($5.4 million) in the third quarter.

"United is unique in that they have a great historic brand, and they have managed to derive value from that history and heritage in a very commercial way," said Ishaq, a football finance expert. "That's a big positive for investors."

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