In his move up to welterweight, Tony Martin had very little trouble in an easy win over Keita Nakamura.

Martin (13-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Nakamura (33-9-2 MMA, 3-3 UFC) with a trio of 30-27 scores in his move up from lightweight, along with his move to American Top Team.

The welterweight bout opened up the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 128 event at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of the rest of the card on FS1.

Martin kicked high early, but whiffed, then ducked away from a Nakamura high kick. Martin fired a 1-2 down the middle, then nodded at Nakamura to remind him he connected. Nakamura landed a body shot, but then went back to feinting. And seconds later, Martin landed a big right hand and put Nakamura on his knees. Nakamura was able to get back up, and Martin stayed patient.

Martin continued to land his right hand, but most of them were one and done. He staggered Nakamura with a minute left, and it caused Nakamura to shoot for a takedown. Martin sank in a guillotine choke, though it wasn’t tight enough to finish.

Martin landed a hard inside leg kick 75 seconds into the second round, but continued to look for a home for his right hand. Nakamura tried to land his kick, but it wasn’t working. Martin stayed in the pocket and landed another two big right hands. Late in the second, he landed a head kick and again had to deal with a takedown attempt from Nakamura. And the same as the end of the first round, Martin threw on a guillotine to close the round, but couldn’t finish with it.

On the canvas in the third, Martin worked for a kimura. But Nakamura rolled out of it and briefly tied Martin up with a body lock. But 90 seconds in, Martin worked back to his feet. With a couple minutes left, Martin landed another solid right hand and seemed OK sticking with what was working. He didn’t go after any home-run shots, and that led to a Nakamura takedown late in the round. Martin used it for an armbar attempt, but Nakamura made it to the final horn.

“I thought it was a dominant performance,” Martin said. “Next, I want someone who’s going to come after me and try to win the fight a lot more. I feel like he was more in survival mode once he felt the right hand. I hurt him a couple times and tried to jump on him, but heard my coaches telling me to calm down.

“This was my first fight at 170 and they wanted to see how I reacted. They didn’t want me to push the pace too heavy. I have a lot of work to do after this. I’m going to bulk up and add some muscle. I want to go out there next time and dominate.”

Martin bounced back from a September loss and has won four of his past five fights. Nakamura is back to the loss column following a September win. He has alternated wins and losses in all six of his UFC fights.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 128 results include:

• Tony Martin def. Keita Nakamura via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

For complete covearge of UFC Fight Night 128, check out the UFC Events section of the site.