BOSTON – Daniel Cormier retained the light heavyweight title Saturday night with what proved to be a dominant win over upstart challenger Volkan Oezdemir.

Cormier (20-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) took Oezdemir (15-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) out with a second-round TKO that stemmed from a takedown, which turned into an onslaught of ground-and-pound that the challenger had no defense for. The stoppage came at the 2-minute mark of the second round.

The light heavyweight title bout was the co-main event of today’s UFC 220 card at TD Garden in Boston. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The first frame might not have been a dominant one for Cormier early on, but by the end of the round he was imposing his will – even after a few sloppy exchanges with Oezdemir on the feet leading up to it.

Cormier said the title victory, even though he was the champion, felt like he was fighting for a vacant belt since Jon Jones beat him this past July, only to have the title stripped for a drug test failure and given back to Cormier.

“I go through a lot of stuff, man,” Cormier told Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight. “It’s because of my greatest rival, but it feels good to get back in here and get a victory. I’ve lost twice to Jon Jones. As I came into this fight, I felt as though I was fighting for a vacant title again because (Jones) beat me last time. I fought for a vacant title and I got the job done, so I’m the UFC champion again. I’ve proved I’m worthy of being called champion, but Volkan’s on the level (of champion).”

Oezdemir came out swinging in a hurry and put Cormier off balance right away. But Cormier fired back. And within 20 seconds, he was initiating a clinch. But Oezdemir avoided it and kept throwing wild punches. Cormier backed away and kicked to the body while the crowd chantined “Let’s go DC!” loudly. Oezdemir again got wild and tried to land with Cormier pressed against the cage, but the champion broke out. Not long after, he landed his own big right, then laid off a takedown attempt when he figured it wasn’t going to happen. Oezdemir threw wildly again, and Cormier answered.

With 80 seconds left, Cormier landed a two-punch combo that wobbled the challenger. He poured it on and landed again. But Oezdemir answered and stayed on his feet. With 30 seconds left, Cormier caught an Oezdemir kick and used it to take him down. On the canvas, Cormier quickly laid on the ground-and-pound, then took Oezdemir’s back and sank in a rear-naked choke that was tight – but Oezdemir was saved by the bell to get to the second frame.

Thirty seconds into the second, Cormier grabbed a single leg and took Oezdemir down again. He quickly got on top and into full mount to start working ground-and-pound. When Oezdemir recovered to half-guard, Cormier moved out to side control and trapped Oezdemir’s left arm. He pounded away on his head. Oezdemir had no defense once Cormier trapped his right arm, as well. And before long, the referee had little choice but to shut things down.

Cormier won officially for the fifth straight time. (His loss to Jones this past July was flipped to a no-contest after Jones tested positive for steroids.) Oezdemir had his five-fight winning streak snapped.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 220 results include:

• Daniel Cormier def. Volkan Oezdemir via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:00
• Calvin Kattar def. Shane Burgos via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:32
• Gian Villante def. Francimar Barroso via unanimous decision
• Rob Font def. Thomas Almeida via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:24
• Kyle Bochniak def. Brandon Davis via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Abdul Razak Alhassan def. Sabah Homasi via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 3:47
• Dustin Ortiz def. Alexandre Pantoja via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Julio Arce def. Dan Ige via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Enrique Barzola def. Matt Bessette via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Islam Makhachev def. Gleison Tibau via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:57

For complete coverage of UFC 220, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Ken Hathaway contributed to this report on site in Boston.)