SCOTTISH fight star Joanne Calderwood admitted she felt the pressure to complete a Scottish hat-trick during the UFC's stunning debut in Glasgow.

The mixed martial arts competition with a world-wide audience of over one billion people arrived at the SSE Hydro on Saturday night with 24 fighters battling it out over 12 bouts.

Among them were home favourites Robert Whiteford, Stevie Ray and Glasgow-based Calderwood, who was up against UFC newcomer Cortney Casey-Sanchez on the main card.

And after her two compatriots both triumphed with technical knockout wins in their respective first rounds, expectation levels for the 28-year-old to do the same went through the roof.

But despite not replicating their prompt finish, Calderwood still displayed all the class that has seen her become one of the best fighters in the world to claim a unanimous points victory after three gruelling rounds.

"Seeing how well the guys did motivated me," said the strawweight, whose opponent was drafted in just a matter of weeks before the fight due to Bec Rawlings dropping out.

"I saw that they both won in the first round and I thought 'I'm going to have to go and do it in the first 10 seconds'.

"That goes through your head but at the end of the day I just needed to get the win.

"It's part of the game when people pull out and you need to get on with it. In MMA a lot of people pull out whether it's the last week or three weeks before. You need to stay headstrong.

"I just kept coming off a loss as a thing of the past and stayed strong. Having the fans here and being in Scotland certainly helped that."

Her supporters certainly made themselves heard. Despite being based in Glasgow, Calderwood has developed a massive following worldwide, particularly in the States where almost half of her professional fights have taken place.

But Saturday was all about being among her own, over 10,000 of them to be exact.

The entire crowd chanted 'JoJo' relentlessly as their favourite recovered after an early scare in the first round, and she thanked them for not only helping her through the bout but for helping make her dreams come true.

"It was very emotional, I've had a very tough eight weeks," explained Calderwood. "I don't want to cry and give everyone a sob story, but it was a tough camp. I can't explain my feelings.

"For the whole week I've been so excited and that's got me through the weight cut, camp and not really being myself.

"I can't explain the feeling of walking out there. I just felt 'this is where I want to be' and I'll never forget that.

"I'd just like to thank the fans and all of their support. They made the UFC come here. If it wasn't for them the three of us would still be fighting but it's because the UFC listened to the fans, answered our prayers and brought this night here to Glasgow."