Jim Wallhead stops Matt Veach in Saturday's BAMMA 12 headliner

In his first bout since a Bellator Season 7 tournament loss to Lyman Good, Jim Wallhead returned to the win column in dominant fashion with a first-round submission victory over Matt Veach.

The welterweight bout headlined Saturday’s BAMMA 12 card, which aired live on AXS TV from Metro Radio Arena in the English city of Newcastle.

Wallhead’s victory was quick and efficient. After dropping Veach, a former UFC fighter, with a left hook, “Judo Jim” followed him to the mat. He then unloaded a vicious ground-and-pound assault that saw Veach eat dozens of punches and dicing elbows.

With his opponent dazed and badly bloodied, Wallhead then swiftly took his back and locked in a rear-naked choke. After securing and tightening the chokehold, the tap-out came at the 3:05 mark of the opening round.

Wallhead (24-7) is now 11-2 over his past 13 fights, and his victories have come over notables such as Che Mills, Ryan Thomas, Frank Trigg, Joey Villasenor and now Veach (16-5), who falls to 1-3 in his past four fights.

In the BAMMA 12 co-headliner, Swedish light heavyweight prospect Max Nunes (10-0) kept his perfect record intact with a third-round TKO victory over Poland’s Marcin Lazarz (5-1).

Lazarz scored frequent takedowns and used a controlling top game to win the first two rounds, but Nunes ultimately secured top position in the third and unloaded a barrage of ground and pound to force a TKO stoppage at 1:12 mark of the final round. It marked Nunes’ 10th stoppage in 10 career wins.

In the night’s other featured bout, former UFC fighter Curt Warburton (12-3) earned a decision victory and won BAMMA’s British lightweight title from Scotland’s Steven Ray (12-4).

The Englishman survived some second round submission attempts and ultimately got the nod from the judges via 29-28 scores. He’s now won five straight fights since his 2011 UFC release.

The full BAMMA 12 results included:

• Jim Wallhead def. Matt Veach via rear naked choke – Round 1, 3:05
• Max Nunes def. Marcin Lazarz via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:12
• Curt Warburton def. Steven Ray via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Ryan Scope def. Luke Newman via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:00
• Scott Askham def. Harry McLeman via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:13
• Lee Barnes def. Steve Watson via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:47
• Thomas Denham def. Brett McDermott via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:58
• Mahmood Besharate def. Steven Gardener via unanimous decision
• James Macalister def. Steve McCombe via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:08

(Pictured: Jim Wallhead)