by “JC” Jerry Casarez

Off TV Preliminary Results

Middleweights 3 rds: Logan Clark 7-0-0 vs. Steve Byrnes 6-0-0 - Logan Clark defeats Steve Byrnes by UD. Scores were 30-27 twice and 29-28

Welterweights 3 rds: - Brock Larson 12-1-0  vs. Keita Nakamura 13-0-2 - Brock Larson defeats Keita Nakamura by UD. Scores were 29-28 on all three judges’ cards.

Welterweights 3 rds: Dave Menne 35-5-1  vs. Luigi Fioravanti 8-1-0 - Luigi Fioravanti defeats former UFC Middleweight Champion Dave Menne by TKO. The end comes at 4:44 of the 1st round when referee Big John McCarthy decides that he has seen enough.

Middleweights 3 rds: Jorge Santiago 11-5-0 vs. Alan Belcher 8-2-0 - Alan “The Talent” Belcher defeats Jorge Santiago by KO. The end comes at 2:45 of the 3rd round when Belcher would score with a right high kick to the head of Santiago prompting Steve Mazzagotti to call a stop.

Light Heavyweights 3 rds: Victor Valimaki 8-2-0  vs. David Heath 8-0-0 - David Heath defeats Victor Valimaki by SD. Two of the three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Heath with a third judge scoring the fight 29-28 in favor of the very game Valimaki.

TV card Results

Welterweights 3 rds: Marcus Davis 13-4-0 vs. Shonie Carter 66-13-7

Marcus”The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis defeats former US Marine Shonie “Mr. International” Carter by UD. All three judges see it in his favor with score of 30-26, 29-28 and 30-27. Davis shows that he is more than a boxer by showing a display of different submission attempts.

Welterweights 3 rds: Drew Fickett 30-4-0 vs. Karo Parisyan 23-3-0

Karo Parisyan defeats Drew Fickette by UD. All three judges have the fight scored 30-27 in favor of “The Heat”. The score are no indication of what an action packed fight it would produce. Fickett who seemed to regain some measure of composure in the 2nd round after a first round that saw him warned for a low blow early didn’t do enough in the round to win the judges approval. The 2nd round was one I believed him to have won after opening a gash under the right eye of Parisyan. The difference being that regardless of how hurt Karo may have been he would constantly finish strong as each round approached the end. With the win Parisyan looks to regain his position in the division since losing his last fight to Diego Sanchez earlier this year.

Welterweights 3 rds: Jeff Joslin 5-2-0 vs. Josh Koscheck 8-1-0

Josh Koshcheck defeats Jeff Joslin by UD. All three judges score the fight 30-27 in favor of Koshcheck. The superior wrestling of Koshcheck seemed to be the difference in the fight as he continued to shoot for single and double leg takedowns. With the takedowns he was able to score elbows in the clinches. While Joslin proved to be game and showed his submission skills with multiple attempts at the triangle as the end of rounds 2 and 3 approached, the clock would be his enemy as both times he would run out of time before being able to take advantage of his position.

Main Event

Welterweights 3 rds: Diego Sanchez 17-0-0 vs. Joe Riggs 28-8-0

Diego Sanchez defeats Joe Riggs by KO at 1:45 of the 1st round. Sanchez was able to land a nice right hook on the chin of Riggs that drops him and followed that up with a knee to the head. The end came soon after as Big John McCarthy was forced to stop the action while Sanchez pounds a defenseless Riggs. With the win Sanchez now finds himself in the Title picture of the 170lbs division.

The only problem is that the Champion George St Pierre may not be available to defend his title against Sanchez till sometime next summer, reason being is that the newly crowned Champion who is just coming off a November victory over Matt Hughes is next scheduled to defend against The Ultimate Fighter season 4 winner of the welterweight division Matt Serra in February. Now if that wasn’t enough there are also tentative plans for St Pierre to rubber match former Champion Hughes sometime next spring in a fight that is scheduled to take place in Montreal. Looks like for the time being fans will have to wait and see who the undefeated welterweight contender is next to challenge.