Sanchez decisions Stevenson in UFC 95

Ultimate Fighter 7 welterweight champion Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez won by unanimous decision over Ultimate Fighter 2 welterweight winner Joe “Daddy” Stevenson in the main bout of UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson on February 21, 2009 at The O2 Arena in London, England.

The scorecards in the three-round, non-title lightweight fight read 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, all in favor of Sanchez who improved his professional record to 20-2. Stevenson, on the other hand, dropped to   29-10.

The versatile and unpredictable Sanchez who had dropped down to lightweight began mixing things up early in the opening round, landing shots to Stevenson’s body and uppercuts to his face. Stevenson landed a few shots of his own but Sanchez kept putting on the pressure, utilizing to the hilt his Muay Thai skills and befuddled the often predictable and one-dimensional Stevenson.

The action picked up in the second round, with both fighters going toe-to-toe in the stand up. In one of the rare times that both fighters were in the clinch, Stevenson had a chance to get in one of his trademark guillotine chokes, but Sanchez managed to get free by slamming Stevenson on the mat.

In the third, Stevenson, perhaps sensing that he was behind on the judges’ scorecards, stepped up his attack but Sanchez was able to absorb his best shots. Sanchez will now look to get into contention to fight for the UFC Lightweight championship held by BJ “The Prodigy” Penn.

It was Stevenson’s second straight loss since being submitted by Kenny Florian last November 15, 2008 in UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar.

Sanchez, on the other hand, looked stellar and showed no signs of being affected by the severe weight cut going into the fight.

Meanwhile, in the undercard, Demian Maia won by submission in round one against Chael Sonnen and newcomer Paulo Thiago knocked out Josh Koscheck in the opening round. Dan Hardy and Junior Dos Santos also won by first round knockouts against their respective opponents, Rory Markham and 6’11 Stephen Struve. Terry Etim was victorious over last-minute replacement Brian Cobb via TKO in the second round.

Aside from their fight purses, Sanchez and Stevenson each received a lucrative $40,000 bonus for winning Fight of the Night. Paulo Thiago and Demian Maia also took home the same amount each for winning Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night respectively.