The Dragons left Ravenhill with a losing bonus point after Ulster clinched a 24-17 point win to remain top of the Celtic League table.
The Men of Gwent secured the bonus point thanks to a late Hal Luscombe try which was converted by Craig Warlow.
Ulster dominated the first half with in-form David Humphreys recording 14 points however, the home side failed to score a point in the second half, despite The Dragons being reduced to 14 men on two occasions.
The Dragons took the lead after seven minutes thanks to a Warlow penalty, however, the lead was short-lived when Ulster’s Isaac Boss turned opposite number Gareth Baber over on The Dragons line following a visiting scrum. The ball was recycled and Cunningham scored in the corner with Humphreys adding the conversion.
Five minutes later the home side built on their lead after kicking a penalty to the corner. From the routine take and drive Humphreys sent centre Jonny Bell through a gap and he found wing Tommy Bowe on his shoulder who ran in under the posts. Humphreys was again successful with the conversion.
It was then the turn of visitors to get on the scoring sheet with no-one collecting an Aled Thomas up and under, Humphreys was charged down and The Dragons recycled and Steve Jones sprinted over to score in the corner with Warlow adding the conversion to bring them to within four points of Ulster.
Humphreys cleverly spotted space behind The Dragons defence and chipped and collected to slide over under the posts. The home side further extended the lead before the break when Humphreys added a penalty after Steve Jones was judged to have blocked Cunningham.
The first period of the second half saw The Dragons unable to get out of their own half as Ulster piled on the pressure and Baber was sent to the sin bin. However, Ulster were unable to breach the defence with Neil Best. Matt McCullough and Roger Wilson all held up. Prop Adam Black was also sent to the sin bin to keep the Dragons at 14 men, however, they refused to concede a try.
In the last minute of normal time, Ceri Sweeney sent Luscombe clear for a try which was superbly converted by Warlow to give the Dragons a bonus point.
