Sanchez Impresses in Fight of the Year Candidate

TUF 9 Finale Results and Review

Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez (21-2 MMA), once regarded as one of the very best welterweight fighters on the planet, made his move down to 155lbs in February with a methodical Unanimous Decision win over Joe Stevenson in the main event of UFC 95. On Saturday night at the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sanchez punished the durable Clay “The Carpenter” Guida (25-10 MMA) en route to a Split Decision victory in a back and forth slugfest that looks to be an early Fight of the Year candidate.

Coming out aggressively from the opening stanza, Sanchez literally sprinted across the cage and unloaded a brutal barrage of hooks and uppercuts that had Guida in serious trouble from the start. Guida gamely hung in the fight and eventually roared back to even the score, though he did little damage to Sanchez throughout the round, eventually getting dropped with a quick roundhouse kick that would have spelled disaster for someone without “The Carpenter’s” patented iron chin.

While the second and third rounds were decidedly tough to call—Guida maintained top position for the majority of both rounds but mounted little threatening offense—it seems that the damage inflicted in the first round was enough to sway two of the judges in favor of the original Ultimate Fighter winner.

Scores were 29-28 Guida, 29-27 Sanchez, 29-28 Sanchez.

Sanchez is now 2-0 since dropping to lightweight and could very well be next in line for a shot at the winner of the UFC 101 lightweight title fight between Champion BJ Penn and top contender Kenny Florian, whom Sanchez owns a 2005 TKO victory over.

In other action, Joe Stevenson (30-10 MMA) bounced back from two consecutive losses and three of his past four—albeit to stiff competition—with a well-earned Unanimous Decision victory over TUF 5 winner and outspoken Nate Diaz (10-4 MMA). Stevenson, now a part of Team Greg Jackson, went back to his wrestling routes as he neutralized the lanky striking and savvy submission attempts of his younger opponent.

Scores were 29-28 across the board for Stevenson. Diaz has now lost two decisions in a row.

In an early Fight of the Night candidate, welterweight slugger and MMA veteran Chris “Lights Out” Lytle (27-17-5 MMA) overcame a brief round 1 scare to win a Unanimous Decision over the always-tough Kevin Burns (7-3 MMA), a relatively green fighter who has fought nothing but top-notch competition since entering the UFC last year.

The fight took place completely on the feet, with both fighters landing powerful shots throughout the three round war of attrition. Although Lytle was nearly dropped midway through the first, he opened up a violent cut near the eye of Burns in the second and earned the win with repeated power shots to the body.

Scores were 29-28 across the board for Lytle, who bounced back from a January Unanimous Decision loss to Marcus Davis at UFC 93.

The welterweight finalists of The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 put on the fastest show on the live broadcast, as U.S. standout DaMarques Johnson (9-7 MMA) struggled to find his rhythm under the relentless offense of U.K. team member James Wilks (6-2 MMA). Wilks tagged Johnson early and worked a punishing ground clinic, eventually forcing the tap with six seconds remaining in the first round for the Rear-Naked Choke victory.

Wilks joined U.K. lightweight teammate Ross Pearson (9-3 MMA) as the evening’s TUF winners after the stocky lightweight outworked Andre Winner (9-3-1 MMA) for the unanimous nod from the judges.

Pearson and Winner refused to engage at range, choosing instead to fight a clinch game that Winner seemed to get the better of in the first round. The second was closer, but the third seemed to decide the fight, as Pearson landed the harder shots to claim the lightweight trophy and UFC contract.

Scores were 29-28 across the board for Pearson.

In preliminary action, lightweight standout Melvin Guillard (22-7-2 MMA) defeated Gleison Tibau (17-7 MMA) by Split Decision while “Bad” Brad Blackburn (14-9-1 MMA) earned his third straight UFC win with a controversial Split Decision win over WEC product Edgar Garcia (7-1 MMA). The crowd was vocal in their disapproval of the decision.

In light heavyweight action, Poland’s Thomasz Drwal (16-2 MMA) took out Mike Ciesnolevicz (17-4 MMA) with a TKO at 4:48 of the first.

U.K. Welterweight semifinalist Nick Osipczak (4-0 MMA) took out Frank Lester (3-3 MMA) with a Rear-Naked Choke at 3:40 of the first, and U.S. veteran and lightweight semifinalist Jason Dent (19-9 MMA) rallied after taking some hard shots to finish Cameron Dollar (2-2 MMA) with an Anaconda Choke 4:46 into the first round.

Final Results:

Diego Sanchez defeats Clay Guida via Split Decision
James Wilks defeats Demarcus Johnson via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Round 1
Ross Pearson defeats Andre Winner via Unanimous Decision
Chris Lytle defeats Kevin Burns via Unanimous Decision
Joe Stevenson defeats Nate Diaz via Unanimous Decision
Melvin Guillard defeats Gleison Tibau via Split Decision
Brad Blackburn defeats Edgar Garcia via Split Decision
Tomasz Drwal defeats Mike Ciesnolevicz via TKO (Strikes) Round 1
Nick Osipczak defeats Frank Lester via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Round 1
Jason Dent defeats Cameron Dollar via Submission (Anaconda Choke) Round 1