In a battle of welterweights in desperate need of a victory, it was Jordan Mein (30-12 MMA, 4-4 UFC) who earned a dominating win over Erick Silva (19-9 MMA, 7-8 UFC).

The 170-pound bout opened up the preliminary card of today’s UFC on FOX 26 event at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FS1 and a main card on FOX.

Mein was aggressive to start, pushing forward and opening with strong kicks to the leg, leading Silva to shoot inside and try to take the fight to the floor. Instead, it was Mein who countered with a gorgeous hip toss, though Silva did scramble quickly to his feet, where both fighters threw heavy punches in the pocket.

As the round wore on, Mein really started to find the range, sneaking big left and right hands through his opponent’s defense. The Canadian also did a fine job thwarting his opponent’s takedown attempts, and Silva appeared to slow.

Mein continued to push forward in the second, forcing Silva to fight on the back foot. The fight did eventually hit the floor, but it was Mein who was on top and did big damage with crushing elbows from the dominant spot. Silva did work his legs high on a few occasions, but he never truly threatened with a genuine submission attempt.

Silva tried to rally in the third, but Mein’s punching combinations proved the most effective striking between the two. Still, Mein elected to take the fight again to the canvas, which he did with relative ease. From there, Mein fended off a few sweep attempts and continued to strike from the top. Silva did have one earnest effort at a triangle choke, but Mein calmly worked his way free and maintained a dominant position until the final bell, walking away with a clearcut decision win, 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27.

“It feels great to be back in the win column, especially doing that here in Canada,” Mein said after the fight. “(Silva) is a very tough guy, and I was surprised by how strong he was, but I knew I had done a lot more in there, so I felt confident I had the win.

“Everything felt like it came together. I want to get back in the gym and keep getting better. I want to always fight like I did tonight. I left it all in the cage, and I need to do that in every fight.”

The win snapped a three-fight losing streak for Mein, while Silva, once considered a top talent, falls to 1-4 in his past five fights.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on FOX 26 results include:

• Jordan Mein def. Erick Silva via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 26, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Mike Bohn and Ken Hathaway contributed to this report on site in Winnipeg.)