text: Chad Mendes underlined his No 1 spot in UFC's featherweight rankings with an explosive first-round technical knockout of former title contender Ricardo Lamas in Fairfax on Saturday night. Coming into the fight on the back of a decision loss in what was 2014's 'Fight of the Year' against champion Jose Aldo, Mendes did not disappoint. The featherweight came out hard and fast, and quickly landed a right hand which inevitably led to Lamas' downfall. Chad Mendes punches Ricardo Lamas in their featherweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event . Mendes celebrates his first-round victory against Lamas as he returned to action in Virginia . Mendes celebrates in style after his victory ensured he retains his No 1 featherweight ranking . 'It feels great,' said Mendes. 'I needed to come in here and make a statement. That's what I said I was going to try and do and I got it done. Ricardo is a great opponent, he's been on a tear so it means a lot. 'We've been working on slipping that right hand and throwing; that's something that I've done for a long time. I was walking him down, he was catching me with a couple of kicks, I hit him big and he went down.' Mendes piled on the pressure from the first bell despite Lamas threatening him with a diverse array of striking techniques. Just shy of the two-minute mark, the piston-like right hand buckled Lamas and, despite his best efforts to recover, Mendes was just too much for him. Lamas did well to get back to his feet after the initial knockdown but Mendes swarmed him and subsequently landed some punishing blows, including a knee from the clinch. He then connected with a powerful left hook that put Lamas down for a second time, but again Lamas rose. But, losing his balance as he moved away from Mendes, Lamas folded against the Octagon. Mendes evaded Lamas' attempts to get hold of him as he scrambled on all fours, and 'Money' dropped some big shots on his counterpart before gesturing to referee Dan Miragliotta, who stopped the bout inside the third minute of the first round. Jorge Masvidal punches Al Iaquinta but fell to a split-decision loss after 15 hard-fought minutes . Masvidal reacts after losing by split decision to Iaquinta in their lightweight fight . Iaquinta punches Masvidal on his way to victory after a back-and-forth fight in Virginia . Meanwhile in the co-main even, Al Iaquinta took a split decision win over Jorge Masvidal in an epic encounter, which saw Iaquinta considerably bloodied and Masvidal sporting a heavily welted lead leg after the 15-minute war. When Masvidal heard the judges' decision he stormed out of the Octagon while Iaquinta cut his post-fight interview short amid a chorus of boos from the crowd. Earlier, Dustin Poirier and Julianna Pena made successful returns to the Octagon with two first-round finishes that won both fighters 'Performance of the Night' honours. Pena, who had been sidelined with a knee injury for 18 months, finished Milana Dudieva with punches and elbows from mount and insisted she would strive for a shot at Ronda Rousey's bantamweight title in the near future. Coming off his first round KO loss to Conor McGregor back in October, and back at lightweight, 'The Diamond' Poirier looked the picture of confidence as he dropped Carlos Ferreira with a straight shot in the first round of their main card curtain raiser.
target: Chad Mendes keeps his No 1 ranking after demolition of Ricardo Lamas .
  A right hand to the top of the head dropped Lamas in under three minutes .
  Al Iaquinta takes split decision after 15-minute war with Jorge Masvidal .
  Julianna Pena and Dustin Poirier won their fights in the first round .