Hometown hero James Webb was stopped on his return to action at Cage Warriors 138 in Colchester last night.

Webb, fighting for the first time since March last year, was clipped and dropped by a short right hand from opponent Leon Aliu, who followed the Colchester man to the floor and landed more punishing punches to force referee Marc Goddard to step in.

Webb drops to 8-4-1 with the defeat, while Italian powerhouse Aliu improves to 10-1, with all ten wins inside the distance.

Former middleweight champion Webb was roared on by a large and vocal home support at the Charter Hall, and will now have to build back again after suffering a second straight defeat.

Earlier in the evening, the other local fighter on the card, George Tanasa, had to settle for a draw after his featherweight dispute with Scott Pedersen was stopped in the third round due to what was deemed an unintentional illegal knee.

Tanasa, who looked to have won the first two rounds, landed the shot on the head of the kneeling Pedersen in the heat of battle, leaving his foe flat on the floor.

Pedersen was unable to continue, so the fight went to the judges scorecards, with referee Rich Mitchell docking the Colchester fighter two points for the foul.

And that proved crucial, as the fight was ruled a draw. Both fighters declared afterwards that they want to meet again, with Tanasa saying that he believes he's the best in the division and will prove that next time out.

In perhaps the most anticipated fight on the card, Luke Shanks and Josh Reed traded heavy artillery in a wild opening before Shanks sank in a rear naked choke to secure the tap in the first round of their bantamweight battle.

With the win, former flyweight champion Shanks moved to 10-3 and showed how dangerous he will be in his new division.

In other action, explosive welterweight Oban Elliot bounced back into the win column with a first round rear naked choke finish of Herkus Lukosiunas.

The exciting, all-action Elliot moved to 4-2 with the win, a dominant showing in front of an appreciative crowd.

Finally, Tom Mearns made it three wins in a row and moved to 9-7 with an entertaining back and forth unanimous points win over Orlando Prins.

Mearns, who missed the featherweight limit for the fight, ate some big shots from his foe but showed his trademark bulldog spirit and grappling skills to dig deep and get the victory.

Cage Warriors 138 results

- Leon Aliu beat James Webb by TKO in the first round (middleweight)

- Luke Shanks beat Josh Reed by rear naked choke in the first round (bantamweight)

- Tom Mearns beat Orlando Prins by unanimous decision (featherweight)

- Oban Elliot beat Herkus Lukosiunas via RNC in the first round (welterweight)

- George Tanasa v Scott Pedersen shared a draw (featherweight)