Eddie Alvarez en route to stopping Rafael dos Anjos in the main event at UFC Fight Night 90. Tommy Lakes Tommy Lakes

RAFAEL DOS ANJOS’ reign as UFC lightweight champion was derailed overnight following a first-round defeat to Eddie Alvarez.

The main event at UFC Fight Night 90 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas ended at the 3:49 mark of the opening frame, as Alvarez secured the TKO stoppage to become the new top dog in the 155lbs division in the UFC.

Dos Anjos, who dethroned Anthony Pettis in March 2015 and then retained the belt at Donald Cerrone’s expense last December, was due to make his second defence of the title against Conor McGregor back in March.

An injury forced dos Anjos out of that bout and he finally returned to action against Alvarez in the headline bout of the first of three events on the UFC’s schedule this week. However, the Brazilian came up short against a determined former Bellator champion.

After Dos Anjos was wobbled by a powerful overhand right, Alvarez zoned in on the victory, although the defending champion displayed impressive grit in his attempts to withstand a relentless onslaught of strikes. But as dos Anjos continued to take punishment, referee Herb Dean had eventually seen enough.

UFC Fight Night 90

• Eddie Alvarez def. Rafael dos Anjos via TKO (punches) after 3:49 of round one
• Derrick Lewis def. Roy Nelson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Alan Jouban def. Belal Muhammad via unanimous decision (28-27, 29-28, 29-27)
• Joseph Duffy def. Mitch Clarke via submission (rear-naked choke) after 0:25 of round one
• Alberto Mina def. Mike Pyle via KO (flying knee and punches) after 1:17 of round two
• John Makdessi def. Mehdi Baghdad via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Anthony Birchak def. Dileno Lopes via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
• Pedro Munhoz def. Russell Doane via submission (guillotine choke) after 2:08 of round one
• Felipe Arantes def. Jerrod Sanders via submission (armbar) after 1:39 of round two
• Gilbert Burns def. Łukasz Sajewski via submission (armbar) after 4:57 of round one
• Marco Beltran def. Reginaldo Vieira via submission (rear-naked choke) after 3:04 of round two
• Vicente Luque def. Alvaro Herrera via submission (D’Arce choke) after 3:52 of round two

Joseph Duffy looked superb as he took just 25 seconds to win at UFC Fight Night 90

‘I played it a bit wrong… but this company has a $4.2 billion price tag because of me’