There was elation for strawweight fighter Aisling Daly who marked her Irish UFC debut with an emphatic win over Brazilian opponent Ericka Almeida.
Daly came into UFC 76 on the back of a defeat and her challenger arrived in Dublin having cultivated an impressive record of seven wins and just one loss.
But as the crowd joined in unison to roar out Daly's introduction song Zombie by The Cranberries, her vision for redemption was looking more than possible.
Daly was comfortable throughout this bout, earning the unanimous decision after three rounds with punishing strikes and comprehensive take downs.
The SBG star, who was omitted from last year's card, wasted little time imposing herself on Almeida. Directly after the referee waved them off, Daly lunged forward in her typical advancing style to pin the Brazilian against the cage.
The pair remained on the outskirts of the octagon before Daly landed a monstrous take down to bring the first round to a conclusion.
Round two was a resumption of the first with Daly executing her second take down inside the first 60 seconds. Both fighters were locked in a stalemate on the canvas before Daly shuffled herself into a comfortable position to unleash a barrage of punches.
The Brazilian then overturned 'The Bash' and wrapped her up in a rear naked choke. But what began as a promising attack for Almeida, turned out to be nothing more than an act of momentary dominance.
By round three Daly was formidable and confidently issued Almeida a grin from across the octagon before meeting in the middle to exchange strokes. The pair veered over to the edge of the cage again and with two minutes to go, Daly made her move.
She gradually forced Almeida on her back and forced her arms apart to land another series of hits on the Brazilian's exposed chest, face and neck to send roars reverberating throughout the crowd.
The only interruption to Daly's dominance, was a reply kick to the face from Almeida as the seconds rolled on to the obvious conclusion.
Before the result was even disclosed Daly was sitting on top of the cage, waving the Irish tricolour. Strangely however, the results were much closer than expected with 30-27, 39-27 and 29-28 all going Daly's way.
After she was declared the winner, Daly said: “Not being on the card last year was like having a baby and it growing up not talking to you anymore. I just wanted to impress tonight and I hope you all enjoyed it.”
