This UFC show will get majorly slept on because of the lack of big time main event and lackluster names on the undercard. It’s a blown up Fight Night card really, but sometimes, with these shows, you get a lot of action because there are going to be some hungry fighters trying to either secure their spot within the company, or climb the ladder for a title shot. You can say the main event is a little of both. Diego Sanchez is a pretty big name because of his stint on the first TUF. He’s fought on some big cards and has a quirky personality with an odd charisma. Joe Stevenson is a bit at a crossroads because as shown in his recent fights against Kenny Florian and B.J. Penn, he’s probably closer to the middle of the pack as far as the lightweights are concerned. Sanchez had to drop a ton of weight to get down to 155 and one of the keys is how he bounces back from the weight loss. Though it’s not a big match main event, it’s still an intriguing match to me. If Sanchez wins impressively, I could see him getting the next shot after Florian, even though it might be a bit early. But you could probably sell a challenging Diego Sanchez title fight as a main event or semi-main better than you can a Clay Guida or Tyson Griffin title fight simply because of name value alone.

1. Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago

Koscheck was looking for the overhand right hand homerun and connected a few times with it. Thiago looked very stiff and almost like a non-athlete. Late in the first round, Koscheck ducked his head to throw a left and Thiago threw an uppercut that was ugly, but effective as it ended the fight. Koscheck went down stiffly, caught a slight left on his way down and the referee stopped it. It was one of those lucky punch knockouts.

Winner: Paulo Thiago by way of 1st round TKO

2. Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen

Maia pulled guard at the first opportunity available. They were back on their feet and Maia pulled Sonnen down and set up a triangle from the mount position, rolled over to his back and Sonnen was done. That was wicked.

Winner: Demian Maia by way of 1st round submission

3. Junior Dos Santos vs. Stefan Struve

Struve is 6’11. That’s crazy.

Dos Santos just opened up on Struve, Struve went down from some big punches, waited for the ref to stop the fight, got back up, went back down again and it was over.

Winner: Junior Dos Santos

4. Nate Marquardt vs. Wilson Gouveia

They both landed some kicks early on and Marquardt looked like he wanted to get in and get out. Both guys looked pretty good, but didn’t really land anything special. Marquardt got a takedown, but Gouveia grabbed onto a guillotine and held on, but Marquardt got out of it and got some good ground and pound in before the first round ended.

Great second round. Marquardt got the best of nearly every exchange and Gouveia seemed to be going out near the end of the round. Marquardt looked to be in really good shaped comparably. He pretty much dominated the round.

Marquardt was in control again after Gouveia got a few good shots in. He ended the fight with a huge knee that cut Gouveia and followed it up with punches against the cage and Gouveia ended up slumping down into sitting position right before the referee ended the fight. Really good fight and excellent performance by Marquardt.

Winner: Nate Marquardt by way of 3rd round TKO

5. Terry Etim vs. Brian Cobb

Etim looks like GSP if he were a skinny boy.

Cobb looks a bit out of his league. Etim kicked the living daylights out of his legs and Cobb kept dropping his body low, eating punches and kicks. He was going for the takedown, but Etim would just pull guard and be fine. Cobb’s legs are probably going to be heavily bruised tonight.

Etim connected with another low leg kick and Cobb was hurt. He then connected with kick to the head and Cobb went down. Etim connected with another punch flush on the chin and it was stopped.

Winner: Terry Etim by way of 2nd round TKO.

6. Per Eklund vs. Evan Dunham

Dunham stuck him with a left hand and then put him in a guillotine, but Eklund got out of it. Dunham dropped him with a punch and Eklund looked out, but he tried defending himself. It was to no avail.

Winner: Evan Dunham by way of 1st round TKO

7. Neil Grove vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz

Let’s just call the second guy Mike so I don’t have to continue tying his last name.

Mike heel hooked Grove and it was stopped quickly.

Winner: Mike Ciesnolevicz by way of 1st round submission

8. Rory Markham vs. Dan Hardy

Hardy threw a left hook that connected and he dropped Markham. He’s done. Lots of early one punch KOs on this show.

Winner: Dan Hardy by way of first round TKO

9. Joe Stevenson vs. Diego Sanchez

Stevenson hit Sanchez a couple of times, but really, Sanchez is the better overall striker and he’s less predictable. He rocked Stevenson once, but other than that, the first round was more so a feeling out process. Sanchez doesn’t look wary at all from the weight cut.

Sanchez was all over him early in the round and his motor was just relentless. Stevenson had a guillotine in for a second before Sanchez switched it and di the same. The rest of the round was a boxing match. Sanchez would score on a combination and then Stevenson would score with a counter. They started to rock each other late in the round and if Stevenson would ever move his head at all, he’d get the better of the trades.

I’m not sure what Stevenson was doing, but he pretty much fought the same fight for all three rounds. He must’ve expected to be able to knock out Sanchez, but that wasn’t the case. After losing the first two rounds (more than likely), he decided to simply box and that was it. Sanchez was never in trouble. They did have some really nice exchanges and Stevenson had some nice counter hooks, but at no point did I think that he won the fight. They ended the third with a good exchange and Stevenson looked way too happy losing the fight in my opinion three rounds to zero.

Winner: Diego Sanchez by way of unanimous decision

One judge gave Stevenson one round.

Neither guy really looked excellent, but Sanchez looked pretty decent for his first fight there. But you’re not going to outbox B.J. Penn like that.

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