In the first fight of the night involving an Irishman the home fans were left disappointed as Englishman Tom Breese (9-0) defeated Dubliner Cathal Pendred (17-4-1) via TKO in the first round.
There were signs of trouble early on for Pendred as a straight left down the middle left him with a seemingly broken nose that started to stream blood as the fight went on.
24-year-old Breese showed some good takedown defence as he shrugged off any attempt from Pendred. Ultimately it was his pinpoint striking that was the decider. As Pendred backed up against the cage Breese picked him apart until he fell to the ground and forcing the referee to step in. There were no heroics or come from behind victory like last year for Pendred, who suffered his first TKO loss since 2010.
Breese now goes 2-0 in the UFC while Pendred drops to 4-2 with losses in his past two fights.
Check out our pre-fight interviews with Breese and Pendred: