Ireland's Cathal Pendred beat Gasan Umalatov on a split decision at UFC Fight Night 53 in Stockholm on Saturday night.
Pendred was given a real test by the Russian, but the Dubliner won through in the end with the judges scoring the bout 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.
Pendred showed more stamina overall to help him remain undefeated in the UFC.
Speaking after the fight, Pendred said: “It wasn’t the fight I really wanted to be honest.
“I felt like he was more of a counter guy and that I had to push the pace the whole time.
"I just tried to push as much as I could without going into his game. I think I did the best I could.”
Gunnar ‘Gunni’ Nelson, however, suffered a surprise first professional defeat when the Icelander lost a split decision to Rick Story.
The SBG fighter came out worse in a bruising headline event with the American prevailing 47-48, 49-46 and 50-44 on the judges’ scorecards.
Nelson was dropped by Story in the fourth round but the 30-year-old couldn’t finish off the younger Nelson, 26, who is a SGB team-mate of Conor McGregor.
