Thursday August 17 the UFC brought a stacked card full of fighters ready to prove their skills at the newly constructed and absolutely beautiful Red Rock Resort, Casino & Spa. The atmosphere was great, and the fighters were ready as the weigh-in stare downs gave us a look into the fights ahead. Everyone involved was ready to see the "Nightmare" Diego Sanchez (17-0) defend his undefeated record, and see how Karo "The Heat" Parisyan (23-3), the former contender for the 170lb Title, would do in his first fight back since his injury that caused him to pull out of his title fight against Matt Hughes.

In the very beginning of round one, Sanchez landed a big shot that hurt Parisyan, which was extremely evident by the wincing expression on the Heat's face. However, suffer through it he did and fought extremely hard to defend the rear naked choke eventually getting out of the position by standing straight up. Parisyan went into anger mode and began trying to taunt Sanchez into a war. 

Round two we saw great throws from Parisyan, yet once on the ground Sanchez was very squirmy and quick getting a couple of reversals to get back to his feet and land some bombs. Throughout the fight, Parisyan landed great tosses getting the takedown as the crowd screamed for more, yet he just couldn't capitalize as it was evident Sanchez had plenty of gas left and wasn't about to be submitted.

Round three we saw a very game Sanchez and a very tired and bruised Parisyan. Again Parisyan landed a great takedown but was unable to work any kind of ground game as Sanchez reversed the position and started landing some big shot in the stand up department. He then scored a takedown of his own and landed some huge shots from Parisyan's guard to end the round strong. To no ones surprise, Sanchez was announced the unanimous winner and is still the only undefeated Ultimate Fighter contestant.


Northwest's own Chris "Crippler" Leben (15-2) crippled his opponent Jorge Santiago (11-5) in a battle of the middleweights. Leben came out cautiously but he quickly went back to his old ways by getting into a bang session with Santiago who was able to land a huge right straight through Leben's hands. Leben got the takedown and started working some patented Team Quest ground and pound, but wasn't really able to do much damage. Round one was a close one but most had Santiago ahead at that point.

Round two was a quick one as thirty seconds into the fight in an exchange Leben fires a viscous left hook that sent Santiago to dream land. Leben followed up with a couple more causing referee Herb Dean to step in and stop the fight. This was a huge win for Leben, and after the fight he was humble and talked about becoming a contender again for the UFC middleweight title.

In a fight that had the crowd going back and forth in who they wanted to root for, former Abu Dhabi submission champ Dean "Boogeyman" Lister (8-4) took on a very game Yuki Sasaki (20-12-1). The fight was kind of slow as Lister was a little tired and definitely trying to end this fight by submission. Lister went for takedown after takedown getting some and not getting others, yet even when he caught Sasaki he wasn't able to submit him. Sasaki kept getting back to his feet and landed some good punches. The fight ended with both fighters exhausted, and it was Lister who got the decision, and promised to come back with better cardio.

Former house mate and season one Ultimate Fighter contestant Josh Koscheck (8-1) absolutely dominated Canadian Jonathan Goulet (16-6) who eventually tapped due to some hard strikes from Kosheck. 

Another Ultimate Fighter contestant Jason "Livewire" Von Flue wasn't as lucky as Koscheck as he took on the very determined and former contender for the 170lb title Joe "Diesel" Riggs. Riggs was the stronger fighter in this as he had his way with Von Flue and sunk a deep triangle choke early in round one.

In other preliminary fights, Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann (9-1) showed some great skills in taking out Muay Thai fighter Crafton Wallace (11-1-1). Kampmann had IFL fighter Mike Pyle in his corner and looked great in his debut in the UFC. 

In heavyweight action, Canadian Christophe Midoux (9-5) was pounded out by American fighter Jake "Irish" O'Brien (7-0) in round two. 

Another Ultimate Fighter contestant saw defeat in Sammy Morgan (18-7) versus Forrest "Meatcleaver" Petz (17-2). Petz dropped Morgan consistently with left hooks throughout the night but Morgan was able to compose him self. However, it was Petz who was awarded the decision.
 

Salem Oregon Native, Pat "Bam Bam" Healy (26-10) took on Ultimate fighter contestant Anthony Torres (4-1). Healy got the take down but wasn't able to dominate the ground game and eventually succumbed to a rear naked choke in round two.

 
The night was a great showing off top notch production, and world class talent. Special thanks to Jennifer Wenk and Loren Mack for the access and help in this young writer's learning experience in covering the UFC.