In the night’s main event, Diego Sanchez announced his arrival on the lightweight scene, as he got the better of Joe Stevenson in their three round stand-up war. I must say I was hugely impressed with Joe Daddy’s sharpened striking, and surprised at how well he held his own against Sanchez. He probably had the edge in boxing, but failed to make use of kicks, knees or any of his other weapons, perhaps a lesson for the future and another way for him to improve. Both of these guys are in that large pool of contenders right below BJ Penn in my opinion. This result sets up a tantalising battle between Sanchez and Sean Sherk, with the winner likely to get the next shot at BJ Penn after Kenny Florian. Stevenson could show he’s on his way back to the top with a win over Gray Maynard, Frankie Edgar or Joe Lauzon.

In the first fight of the night, Wolfslair bruiser Paul Kelly brutalized Troy “Rude Boy” Mandaloniz’s face for three rounds, displaying improved stand-up and some vicious ground and pound. One has to be impressed with the sheer heart Mandaloniz showed to stay in the bout, given the gash which opened up above his eye in the very first round, but it’s hard to think of a known fighter he could beat on the evidence of his displays so far in the octagon. Kelly moves up the pecking order with this win, and I for one would love to see him take on Junie Browning in his next fight, though he has stated a desire to move down to lightweight.

Mike Ciesnolevicz made short work of the mammoth Neil Grove in their heavyweight clash. Grove’s relative inexperience showed as he attempted a leglock, only to be devastatingly heel hooked himself in the process. It seems that, as Mike C torqued the hold, he did some serious damage to Grove’s knee. Given Grove’s advanced age, and the likely seriousness of such an injury, it’s not unthinkable that this could end his career. Here’s hoping The Goliath gets well soon. An impressive sub though from Mike C, who plans to go back to light heavyweight for his next fight. Maybe he and Thiago Silva or Vinny Magalhaes could get it on in the near future.