THE legend status of Brazilian fighters Junior dos Santos and Mauricio Rua has been cemented in Adelaide after the pair crushed Australia’s brightest MMA talent on home soil.

Former UFC heavyweight champion dos Santos overcame heavy hits and a busted ankle to stop Tai Tuivasa, whose brother-in-law, Tyson Pedro, was finished by Rua earlier in the co-main event.

The bubble keeping Tuivasa’s undefeated record intact burst when he was caught with a left hook and straight right hand while rushing in on dos Santos. Prior to that he was winning the fight.

But the crisp combo in the second round floored Tuivasa in front of a sold-out Entertainment Centre crowd and dos Santos pounced, raining down punches until referee Herb Dean had seen enough.

“I’m so happy, (Tai is) tough (and) I knew he was tough, but not that tough,” dos Santos said. “I have knockout power and I can knock anyone out.”

A frustrated Tuivasa — the first indigenous fighter to compete in the UFC — said he had stuck to the game plan but got caught.

“I got rocked but I was on my back, I felt like a turtle and I couldn’t get up,” he said.

“I was pressuring him, I was going forward … and I got hit.”

After the fight Tuivasa called out American Justin Willis, who earlier beat fan favourite Mark Hunt by unanimous decision. It was the last fight on Hunt’s UFC contract.

In the co-main event, Rua overcame a brutal head clash in the first round to beat Pedro.

Surviving to the bell, Rua came out and dominated round two. Pedro appeared to hurt his knee as the Brazilian smothered him on his feet and suffocated him further on the ground.

In the last round, Rua stunned Pedro with a straight right hand and finished the Aussie on the ground soon after.

Earlier, Melbourne’s Jimmy Crute had jump-started the crowd when he submitted Paul Craig in the dying seconds of their fight.

The talented light heavyweight threatened with submissions throughout the first main card bout and finally caught Craig with a kimura with just 10 seconds left on the clock.

“I've been dreaming of this moment for 10 years,” undefeated Crute said after the win.

Melbourne fighter Jake Matthews was choked unconscious in his fight against Anthony Martin.

Despite being knocked down in round one, the American recovered and cinched an anaconda choke after a failed takedown attempt by Matthews in the final round.

Adelaide-born Suman Mokhtarian had a horror start to his UFC career, finished by explosive Nigerian Sodiq Yusuff in the first round.

Mokhtarian came off second-best in a vicious trade of blows and then took 13 unanswered punches against the cage before the referee stepped in and called off the bout.

New South Wales fighter Alex Gorgees kicked off the UFC’s return to Adelaide, but lost to Damir Ismagulov by unanimous decision.

The UFC said it took in $1.4 million at the gate for the event and will return to Adelaide in the future.