MICHAEL Bisping last night kept his vow to silence Jorge Rivera with a dominant second-round TKO victory at UFC 127.

Rivera, 38, had taunted and mocked the Clitheroe mixed martial artist for months in the run up to the bout at the Acer Arena, Sydney, Australia.

Remarks about Bisping's heritage, his 'inability to finish fights' and, in particular his family, had visibly angered 'The Count' who vowed to make Rivera eat his words.

And at one minute and 54 seconds of the second round, a series of big right hands, knees and vicious uppercuts ensured just that as the referee called a stop to the fight.

A first-round illegal knee to Rivera, as he knelt in the Octagon, sparked some controversy and resulted in a point being deducted from the Brit.

But the TKO negated any impact of the lost point on the judges’ scores. Bisping, 32, was in command in the first round before the illegal knee thanks to a couple of big takedowns and ground and pound.

After the victory, Bisping, who had earlier refused to touch gloves with the American, squared up to his defeated opponent demanding an apology for his earlier jibes.

But, after returning to the Octagon centre for his post-fight interview, Bisping composed himself and apologised to the fans and UFC president Dana White for his outburst.

"I just want to apologise - I got a little worked up then," he said.

"He and his camped talked a lot of s*** going in and they touched a few nerves.

"I'm a sensitive guy so I apologise for maybe losing control a little there.

"I respect Jorge as an opponent but he talked so much s***. I didn't understand it.

"I never said anything bad about him and he came out with all these things, even his coaches and his cornermen came out with all these things.

"I felt there were going below the belt and it upset me a little so I apologise Mr White."

The victory takes Bisping's MMA record to 22 wins with just three losses and takes him a step closer to a shot at the middleweight championship.

He said: "I love my job, I love doing this so I train as hard as I can.

"I'm just trying to get better and just trying to achieve my goals."