It was the fight everyone expected out of Hector Lombard when he arrived in the UFC, a masterpiece of violence that ended with his opponent splayed out on the mat. It came one fight later than he wanted, but it's a start.

Shaking off the lackluster performance of his July debut, Lombard fought with aggression from start to finish, crushing Rousimar Palhares in a first-round technical knockout.

The finish came at 3:38.

Palhares never really had a chance, as Lombard continually walked him down and Palhares mistakenly circled to his right, and into Lombard's power hand.

Prior to the finish, Lombard knocked Palhares down with a right hook and swarmed for the finish but Palhares was able to cover up and survive. Moments later, Lombard got free and with the fight back standing, he walked Palhares back to the cage and unloaded with a barrage. Palhares bent over, hurt by a left, and Lombard dropped him with a hook, then finished him with a series of ground strikes.

Afterward, he had ideas on his next match.

"I would like to do that to Michael Bisping," he said to a wild ovation.

Lombard is now 32-3-1 with 1 no contest, and back in the contender discussion.

In losing for the second straight time, Palhares dropped to 14-5.