ABERTILLERY hitman Jack Shore improved his perfect record to 13-0 with another finish inside the distance on his long-awaited return to the UFC octagon, writes Jason Batty.

Shore’s last outing was September 2019 and it appeared that he had never been away, as the 25-year-old produced yet another display of pure dominance against American Aaron Phillips.

The contest set the pace for an action-packed night of fighting on the UFCs Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

Despite not having his army of loyal fans singing his name in the arena, Shore appeared undeterred, looking relaxed and composed as he walked to the octagon flanked by his coaches Richard Shore and Carl Parker.

From the very beginning, Shore fought off the front foot exchanging kicks with Phillips as he tried to close the distance.

When he finally did, Shore secured a huge takedown and put the pressure on the American, raining down with big punches and elbows.

Phillips at one stage did find his way back up to his feet, but was met with several powerful knees to the face in a round dictated by Shore.

The second round wasn’t much different. Shore capitalised on a failed superman punch by Phillips and delivered a double leg takedown within seconds of round starting, with the Welshman winding up in Phillips guard.

From here it was trademark Shore all the way as those watching across the world got to see the fighting style that had seen him victorious in Cage Warriors over the years.

On the ground, Shore smothered Phillips, softening him up with brutal ground and pound before latching onto his neck.

No man who has been those deep waters with Shore has ever survived his assault. The finish was a formality, as Shore picked up another a win by rear naked choke halfway though the second round.

"It feels very good, the fans of this sport want to see finishes, they don't want to see drawn out decisions and I'm not the type of guy that wants to be in three rounds wars," he said.

"To come away with another finish, that's 12 out of 13 fights now, I'm a happy man."

The bantamweight division is stacked and arguably the most competitive in the promotion, offering a depth of talent which sees Russian Petr Yan as the newly crowned King.

In an already rich division, with each fight, Shore’s stock is rising. With another almost flawless performance and finish, the Welshman can expect to be on the radar of some its top contenders with talk of possibly a top-15 opponent next.