Mauricio "Shogun" Rua overcame two knee surgeries, a setback against Forrest Griffin and a controversial decision in their first meeting to dethrone Lyoto Machida and become the undisputed UFC light heavyweight champion.
"Shogun is back," said UFC President Dana White at the post-fight pressconference.
The first-round knockout earned Rua $65,000 for "Fight of the Night."
"When I connected with the overhand right, I already noticed he was going out," said Rua. "I stopped punching a little bit before the referee stopped the fight."
Rua said self-motivation helped him overcome personal obstacles.
"The toughest times a fighter can face are injury times," he said. "I always believed in myself and my dream to become UFC world champion."
In the co-feature, Josh Koscheck earned himself a spot as a coach on the next season of "The Ultimate Fighter" opposite Georges St-Pierre.
Koscheck outwrestled Paul Daley en route to a unanimous decision.
After a thunderous chorus of boos from the passionate live crowd, Koscheck had second thoughts about celebrating the win. "I don't tihnk I'm going to my afterparty now," he said.
Daley, a brash British brawler, threw a punch at Koscheck after the final bell sounded.
"It landed," said Koscheck. "It was probably his best punch of the fight."
White said Daley's antics would not be tolerated.
"Daley's done. He'll never fight in the UFC ever again," said White. "There's no excuse for that. You don't ever hit a guy blantantly after the bell."
Canadian Sam Stout pocketed his fifth "Fight of the Night" bonus for his close fight against Jeremy Stephens, which he lost by split decision. Both fighters earned an additional $65,000.
"I don't know if anyone has won more bonus money than [Stout] has," said White.
In a battle of "TUF" veterans, popular former street brawler Kimbo Slice was vanquished by Matt Mitrione by way of second-round TKO.
"That's probably Kimbo's last fight in the UFC," said White. "I got nothing but respect for him."
Mitrione credited his training camp for getting him prepared for the bout.
"I pretty much got beat up by Pat Barry for six weeks," said Mitrione. "I learned a lot."
"Submission of the Night" honors worth $65,000 went to Alan Belcher for his rear-naked choke finish of Patrick Cote in the second round.
White said Belcher is definitely in the mix for a middleweight title shot, although Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort are next in line.
In undercard action, Jason MacDonald's return to the UFC against John Salter ended abruptly when he landed awkwardly on his leg.
"MacDonald broke his leg in two places," said White. "He's in the hospital."
UFC 113 drew 17,647 fans to Montreal's Bell Centre for a live gate of $3.7 million.
