UFC 140 prelims: Hecht pulls off great comeback, Cholish and Bocek also winners

A fight can change in a split second when you hit someone behind the ear. Jake Hecht drilled Rich Attonito from an odd position, but the effect was the same.

Attonito went out for a second and Hecht took advantage pounding him out at the 1:10 mark of round two in the second fight of the night at UFC 140 in Toronto.

It was a startling turnaround after a first round where Attonito worked over Hecht on the ground. The UFC veteran aggressively pursued a takedown in the opening seconds of the second round. Hecht showed good balance through a single-leg takedown attempt, so Attonito dropped down to his knees for a double-leg try.

With Attonito's head sitting in his abdomen, Hecht threw a wicked elbow that hit his opponent on the ear. The next elbow was planted directly to Attonito's temple. The effect was just like getting hit with a standing hook. Attonito's legs gave out and he went down. Hecht (11-2, 1-0 UFC) poured it on with 13 unanswered right hands on Attonito, who turtled up. Referee Josh Rosenthal had to stop it.

Attonito (10-5, 3-2 UFC) cruised in the opening round. He scored a takedown with 3:38 left and worked body-head combinations until the close of the round. Hecht never got off his back, but he avoided a fight changing shot from the bottom by staying active and at least threatening to land a submission. Maybe Attonito was overconfident when he left himself in a prone position so long going for that second round double-leg attempt.

Cholish impressive in debut against Canadian Clarke

John Cholish has trained under some of the best grapplers in the world and it showed tonight. The New Yorker got the fight where he wanted and showed a slick ground game in finishing Mitch Clarke at the 4:36 mark of the second round.

Clarke looked solid at the start, but quickly grew sluggish.

Cholish, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Renzo Gracie, saw his opening in the second. The fight's momentum shifted Cholish's way after he scored a takedown in the middle of the second. Clarke got up, but for some reason decided to take it to the ground himself. After a scramble, he found himself in a submission predicament. Clarke survived a quick kimura attempt, but Cholish was able to transition and take his back.

It was over from there as Cholish got both hooks in and flattened out Clarke. With multiple strikes, he opened up a cut. Referee John McCarthy had to save the defenseless Clarke after he absorbed abuse for nearly 30 seconds.

In battle of grapplers, Bocek too much for Lentz

Nik Lentz is a pretty good one-trick pony, but tonight, he met his match against a better wrestler and grappler.

Mark Bocek landed takedowns in all three rounds and maintained top position for over 13 of the minutes on his way to a unanimous decision victory, 30-27 on all three scorecards, in fight No. 3 of the night at UFC 140.

Lentz's style isn't pretty, but he came into the match riding a 15-fight unbeaten streak. This was a good win for Bocek (10-4, 6-4 UFC) against a guy who's very crafty on the ground.

Lentz's issue tonight was working with a one-tracked mind on the ground. He either played defense or went for Bocek's neck.

Bocek, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, wasn't going to fall victim to a choke. Lentz threatened with a solid attempt in the first and second, but Bocek freed himself and regained top control in both cases.

Bocek was far from dominant, but when a fighter has top control for that long, there's no way judges are going to side with the fighter who spent the majority of his time on the bottom.

Lentz (21-4-2, 5-1-1 UFC) has made his bones by wrestling and working top control of his own. He just couldn't control the direction of the grappling tonight and lost as a plus-135 underdog.

You can watch UFC 140 right here on Yahoo! Sports