Thursday night on a Bellator MMA card at the Santa Ana Star Center, Holm improved her record in the cage to 3-0 with a victory by second-round TKO over Merrill (1-1).

In her first two fights, Holm’s powerful kicks did the damage. Thursday, she used the fists that have made her a world champion boxer — catching Merrill first with a right hand to the solar plexus, then with a left to the jaw as the Brighton, Mass., fighter began to crumple.

Holm finished the fight with strikes on the ground before referee Raul Porrata stopped the fight.

Holm did not attend a postfight news conference.

Lenny Fresquez, Holm’s promoter, said earlier this week that he had big plans for his fighter this year in both the cage and the boxing ring.

“We’ve got two targets,” Fresquez said. “(Boxer) Cecilia Braekhus and Ronda Rousey.”

Neither of those fights will happen in the immediate future, and, regarding Rousey, that’s probably a good thing.

Several times, Merrill caught an attempted Holm kick and twice took her to the ground. The stronger Holm was able to extricate herself both times.

“Holly needs a few more fights (before facing Rousey), but that fight doesn’t scare me at all,” Fresquez said. “… That’s me talking, not Holly or Mike (Winkeljohn, Holm’s trainer and manager). My job is to look into the future and set the goals.”

Both fighters were cautious in the first round. Holm appeared to gain the edge with some solid kicks, but Merrill scored a takedown just before the round’s end.

Holm landed two solid punches early in Round 2, but Merrill then took a leg and scored her second takedown.

Perhaps that annoyed Holm, who got to her feet and began punching in earnest. The end came at 3:02.

The fight was contested at the 135-pound bantamweight limit, the same weight at which Rousey competes.

Albuquerque’s Holly Holm kicks at her opponent Katie Merrill of Brighton, MA. as they were on the Bellator MMA Championship Tournaments fight card at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho Thursday evening. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal.)

In the main event, televised nationally on Spike, Attila Vegh (29-4-2) of Gabeikovo, Slovakia, took the Bellator light heavyweight title from a strangely inactive Christian M’Pumbu of Kinshasa, Congo. After a slow-paced, widely booed five rounds, the judges’ scores were 48-47, 49-46 and 50-45.

In preliminary fights involving New Mexico fighters:

■ Albuquerque wrestling legend Lenny Lovato, who had been absent from the cage since July 2010, was caught by a perfect right hand to the jaw from Blas Avena (8-6) of Las Vegas, Nev., and lost by first-round TKO.

Lovato (8-2) looked puffy and seemed rather slow at the welterweight limit of 170 pounds.

■ Featherweight Andres Quintana scored a dramatic victory by third-round TKO over fellow Albuquerquean Russell Wilson.

Quintana (4-1) appeared to have lost the first two rounds. Seconds into the third, he caught Wilson (2-2) with two knees to the face. Wilson, gushing blood, tapped out.

■ Santa Fe bantamweight Josh Montoya suffered a brutal knockout at the hands — or, actually, the left foot — of Ed West.

West (18-7), of Tucson, is a Bellator veteran. Montoya (10-8), who trains in Rio Rancho, seemed outgunned but not overwhelmed in stand-up before West landed a crushing kick to the head.

Montoya went down heavily, his head bouncing off the cage floor a couple of times. Referee Porrata was quick to stop the fight, and in fact tackled West before he could do any more damage.

■ Rio Rancho bantamweight Adrian Cruz remained unbeaten (4-0) with a victory by second-round submission over Albuquerque’s Nick Gonzalez (3-1). The end came via arm lock at 3 minutes of the round, with Cruz dominating before attaining the submission hold.

■ Albuquerque heavyweight Josh Lanier (3-7) lost by second-round TKO (strikes) to Josh Appelt (9-2) of Sacramento, Calif.

Lanier, a natural middleweight, had gained about 20 pounds for the bout. But his larger self proved no match for Appelt’s punches, whether in stand-up or on the ground.

In Bellator lightweight tournament semifinals:

■ David Rickels (13-1) of Derby, Kan., defeated Jason Fisher (6-2) of Livonia, Mich., by unanimous decision.

■ Saad Awad (14-4) of San Bernardino, Calif., spoiled the perfect record of Chicago’s Will Brooks (9-1) with a TKO (strikes) in just 43 seconds of the first round.