Sandoval, Barbarena score wild finishes on UFC Nashville early prelims

Flyweight Bout: Hector Sandoval def. Matt Schnell via 1st-round KO

Sandoval made Schnell's return to 125 pounds a bitter one.

"Kid Alex" fought through a significant size disadvantage and an airtight guillotine choke to finish Schnell with a barrage of hammerfists just 4:24 into the card's frenetic flyweight opener.

Sandoval wasted little time taking the fight to the rangier Schnell, and the pair were trading bombs in what looked like a scrap fit for an NHL rink within the bout's opening minute.

The 30-year-old's early attempts to keep Schnell on the mat went for naught, with "Danger" slapping on a deadly guillotine when Sandoval committed to yet another takedown. Sandoval need not methodically work his way out of the choke, forcing his way out of it with a slam and sheer will before stunning a suddenly defenseless Schnell with short, but vicious hammerfists for the stoppage.

The Team Alpha Male member improved his UFC record to 2-1 with his second consecutive victory, while Schnell is now winless in a pair of trips to the Octagon.

Welterweight Bout: Bryan Barberena def. Joe Proctor via 1st-round TKO

Proctor wanted Barberena to bring it on and he did, much to Proctor's misfortune.

The much larger Barberena was not amused by Proctor's taunting and he dropped his foe with a right hand before unloading on him with strikes to earn a TKO finish at the 3:30 mark of Round 1.

With the win, Barberena has won three of his last four fights. Postmatch, "Bam Bam" thanked his daughter for painting his toenails, a style choice that appeared to bring him luck Saturday.

There was a noticeable size difference between the two fighters as Proctor was competing at 170 pounds inside the Octagon for the first time. He struggled to get inside on Barberena, trading leg kicks before getting caught by the right hand that sealed his fate.

This was Proctor's first fight in almost 500 days after injuries kept him sidelined for the entirety of 2016. He has lost three of his past four fights.

Women's Bantamweight Bout: Alexis Davis def. Cindy Dandois via unanimous decision

Alexis Davis rode a handful of well-timed submission attempts to take a unanimous decision over newcomer Cindy Dandois.

The former women's bantamweight title challenger had Dandois fighting her way out of armbar, leglock, and triangle tries to sway all three judges by 29-28 scores and rebound from the tapout loss she suffered at Sara McMann's hands last December.

The bigger Dandois easily took Davis to the mat within the bout's opening minute, but the Canadian put her jiu-jitsu acumen to work and nearly had her foe dead to rights with an armbar attempt in equally short order. It was all Dandois could do to keep Davis from taking her arm home, and the struggle had the pair momentarily tangled in a human pretzel.

The bantamweights intermittently ditched their fortes in the ensuing two rounds, with Dandois' inexperience as a striker rearing its downright atrocious head. While she managed to stay in the fight by taking Davis to the ground on a handful of occasions, Davis countered a pair of ill-advised head-and-arm throws to end up in the dominant position in Round 2.

The grappling match resumed in the third, and just when it appeared Dandois would cruise to the final horn from top position, Davis trapped her in a triangle armbar that had the Belgian native fighting to make it through the fight's dying seconds.

Davis' attempts to end the fight early proved to be the difference, as each judge gave her the nod in two of three frames.

The 32-year-old Dandois saw a three-fight win streak snapped and her professional record fall to 8-3 with her first career loss on points.