Sherman wins thriller; Vick, Knight score KOs on UFC 211 prelims

Heavyweight Bout: Chase Sherman def. Rashad Coulter via 2nd-round TKO

Fear of the chopping block brought out the best in Chase Sherman.

Winless in a pair of UFC bouts heading into Saturday's event, "The Vanilla Gorilla" unloaded everything in his arsenal on the debuting Rashad Coulter before securing his first promotional victory with a nasty elbow at 3:36 of Round 2.

What began as a calculated duel between the behemoths quickly turned into a barn burner, as Sherman obliterated Coulter's lead leg with a barrage of power kicks through the opening round while the newcomer worked to find a landing spot for his counter right hand. Sherman's attack bore fruit before long, as Coulter had to dig deep to avoid buckling to the kicks and make it to the second-round horn.

The 35-year-old Coulter took the fight to Sherman in the second, his mitts growing wilder yet hitting pay dirt. Sherman gladly obliged and threw hands in rebuttal to make it a good old-fashioned slugfest. The Vanilla Gorilla's kicks had already taken their toll, however, as a waning Coulter needed to lean against the cage to remain upright, allowing Sherman to tee off with a flurry before putting him away with an elbow to the temple.

Coulter may have seen his homecoming spoiled and a five-fight knockout streak snapped, but he leaves Dallas' American Airlines Center with higher stock after valiantly putting on a show with Sherman on just two weeks' notice. His professional record now sits at 8-2.

Featherweight Bout: Jason Knight def. Chas Skelly via 3rd-round TKO

Don't look now, but "The Kid" is emerging as a legitimate contender at 145 pounds.

Also known as "Hick Diaz" due to his exciting style that is reminiscent of UFC stars Nate and Nick Diaz, Knight is building a resume to match the hype as he won his fourth straight fight with a third-round TKO of Skelly:

Knight is now 4-1 in the UFC and he's won 12 of his last 13 fights. He picks up his first TKO inside the Octagon and his first victory by strikes since January 2014.

The fight went downhill for Skelly after it appeared that he suffered an arm injury in the opening round. Post-fight, Knight acknowledged that he thought Skelly's arm might be broken and he credited the Texan for battling through the injury.

Skelly's attempts to wrestle Knight led to some high-paced scrambles that Knight consistently got the better of. By the final frame, it was clear that Skelly would have to stand and strike with him to have a chance, and Knight made him pay with a lunging right uppercut that put Skelly on the canvas. A flurry of unanswered punches followed and the bout was waved off at the 39-second mark of Round 3.

The loss snaps a a two-fight win streak for Skelly. His UFC record now sits at 6-3.

Lightweight Bout: James Vick def. Marco Polo Reyes via 1st-round TKO

Reyes couldn't escape the long arm of "The Texecutioner."

One good punch was all it took for Vick to rock Reyes and treat his fans at the American Airlines Center in Dallas to a first-round TKO finish. The 6-foot-3 Vick dropped a retreating Reyes with a straight right and followed with ground-and-pound to force the stoppage 2:39 into the fight.

It was Vick's seventh win in eight UFC appearances, and his first UFC knockout. He asked the matchmakers post-fight to give him a top-15 opponent, specifically the winner of a June 25 bout between Mike Chiesa and Kevin Lee.

Reyes suffers his first loss inside the Octagon and is now 3-1 since joining the UFC in November 2015.