Breese impresses, Ray and Daly win in Fight Night 76 prelims

Stevie Ray def. Mickael Lebout via unanimous decision

Stevie Ray got the job done to close out the prelims on UFC Fight Night 76 on Saturday afternoon.

A patient Ray picked Mickael Lebout apart with simple, crisp combinations for much of the 15 minute affair, generally punctuating his short bursts with a stinging straight left hand.

Although he did coast a bit, allowing the leather-tough Lebout to stick around and land some shots of his own, Ray was the better fighter, finding a home for his straight left on the side of Lebout's dome.

Also, Ray closed out the bout with this:

Aisling Daly def. Ericka Almeida via unanimous decision

Aisling Daly was aggressive, and that was enough against Ericka Almeida.

Spurred by a frenzied Irish crowd, Daly's pressure and sheer volume was enough to overwhelm a far too passive Almeida, as Daly spent long stretches of the 15-minute bout peppering a downed Almeida with punches to the face, calves, and thighs. Although she wasn't doing a ton of damage, "Ais The Bash" was definitely putting in more work.

Almeida had flashes of good offense, even threatening with multiple submissions, including a rear-naked choke in the closing seconds of the middle stanza. Ultimately, those offensive spurts were few and far between, and Daly's furious pressure was easily enough to sway the judges.

Krzysztof Jotko def. Scott Askham via split decision

Krzysztof Jotko did juuuust enough over 15 minutes to snatch a win away from Scott Askham.

After Jotko's ground game likely snagged him the opening round, and Askham's more consistent standup won him the middle stanza, Jotko looked like the fresher fighter in the third, out-landing a bloodied Askham with combinations on the feet and tighter work in the clinch.

It wasn't an exciting or stirring victory by any stretch of the imagination, but Jotko's post-fight dance moves were pretty slick.

Tom Breese def. Cathal Pendred via first-round TKO

Tom Breese breezed right through Cathal Pendred.

One of the welterweight division's best young prospects, Breese absolutely wrecked Pendred in front of the Irishman's Dublin brethren, using repeated straight left counters to carve up "The Punisher," leaving him a bloody mess.

The bout's finishing sequence was a thing of beauty, as Breese buckled Pendred with a vicious body kick and then proceeded to land a series of left hands until a helpless Pendred crumbled to the mat.

Darren Elkins def. Robert Whiteford via unanimous decision

Darren Elkins is about that grind.

Inferior to Robert Whiteford on the feet, Elkins used his stout wrestling to completely grind Whiteford out, gladly taking two or three punches in order drag the bout to the floor and wear the Scotsman down with heavy top control and a steady stream of punches.

Whiteford was game, and landed some good punches and a beautiful judo throw, but ultimately couldn't keep his opponent off his legs, as Elkins, like some sort of sadistic Energizer Bunny, refused to stop moving forward, landing takedown after takedown while trying to inflict damage or snag a rear-naked choke.

Gareth McLellan def. Bubba Bush via third-round TKO

Bubba Bush is no Zack Morris, and he was definitely not saved by the bell.

Instead, Bush was under siege in the waning moments of his bout with Gareth McLellan on Saturday afternoon, absorbing a buzzer beating torrent of punches until referee Piotr Michalak stopped the onslaught with two seconds left on the clock.

In a fight that was mostly waged on the floor and in the clinch, a fence grab by McLellan in the second round gave him full mount, and the advantage for the rest of the frame, unloading occasional spurts of ground-and-pound on a visibly gassed Bush.

It was more of the same in the final stanza, as top control and ground-and-pound was the name of the game for McLellan before he deployed the aforementioned ferocious finishing sequence.