No doubt about it. Sanchez is a star

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar—In front of a pulsating hangar packed with over 3,000 marines, Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez created a roar of energy with a spectacular first round knockout over the well regarded Joe “Diesel” Riggs. Sanchez is simply one of those special fighters that stands apart from his colleagues. He’s boxing’s equivalent of the young Julio Cesar Chavez that knocked out Roger Mayweather in the 1980’s. His killer instinct is intact and entwined with prodigious talent and dedication. There can be no doubt that Sanchez should be considered a serious threat to anyone in the welterweight division that is currently ruled by George St. Pierre.

The fight started somewhat tactically as both men threw out their respective jabs. Sanchez attempted a takedown but was denied by Riggs. Eventually, Sanchez saw an opening and landed a perfect right hand that dropped his opponent. He then followed up with a perfect right knee to the face of Riggs that finished him off. Referee John McCarthy was right on top of the action as he called a halt to the fight at 1:45 of the first round. “I told people I wanted to be the first person to knock out Joe Riggs and I did,” said Sanchez afterwards.  Sanchez stated that he will look for a fight against Matt Hughes or Josh Koscheck next.

Sanchez keeps his record perfect at 19-0. Riggs is now 28-9. The card was televised nationally as part of Spike TV’s UFC Fight Night.

Parisyan shuts out Fickett
Welterweight Karo Parisyan dominated Drew Fickett by scores of 30-27 all across the board. Fickett found success in the first with some nice kicks. Most of the first round took place on their feet as Parisyan scored with some nice rights that reddened Fickett’s face.

In the second, Parisyan slammed Fickett to the mat.  Fickett then landed an elbow from his back which created an ugly cut under Parisyan’s right eye. Parisyan answered with his own elbows that created a vertical cut on Fickett’s forehead. The blood flowed after each cut.

In the third round, Parisyan landed more shots to the face of Fickett. Fickett tried to take his opponent down but Parisyan wasn’t having any of it. The Armenian-American defended well and earned the decision. Parisyan is now 24-3. Fickett drops one and is now 30-5.

Koscheck decisions Joslin
Josh Koscheck of Fresno, California won an easy three-round unanimous decision over Jeff Joslin of Ontario, Canada. Koscheck controlled the action and took down his opponent twice in the first round and again in the second and third. Joslin tried to mount an offense several times but was his efforts were squashed by Koscheck as he was repeatedly taken down. Scores were 30-27 by all judges. Koscheck improves to 9-1. Joslin is now 5 and 3.

Marcus Davis handles Shonie Carter
“The Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis had a relatively easy time with “The Ultimate Fighter” participant Shonie Carter. Davis, a former boxer, had Carter in trouble from the first round and even came close to securing a rear naked choke which Carter escaped. He landed some hard straights that hurt Carter. In the second round, the fighters spent most of their time on their feet, much to Carter’s detriment, since Davis landed some hard shots that staggered Carter and had him severely hurt for most of the round. Carter looked sluggish at this point while Davis was fresh and landing accurate shots. The round ended with Carter in survival mode. In the third, a tired Carter attempted to mount an offense that had little effect since most of his punches and kicks were being telegraphed at this point. Not much happened in the round since Davis didn’t take any chances and coasted to a win. Davis improves his MMA record to 15 wins and 4 losses. Carter drops to 81-17-7.

Other bouts:
Alan Belcher used a perfectly timed right high kick to knock out Jorge Santiago, a Brazilian fighting out of Coconut Creek, Florida. Referee Steve Mazagatti halted the action at 2:45 of the third round. Belcher, who is now 8-3, softened up Santiago with a few low leg kicks before landing the fight ending shot to the face. Santiago’s record drops to 11-8.

Light Heavyweight David Heath of Tulsa, Oklahoma took a majority decision from Victor Valimaki of Edmonton, Alberta. The scores were 29-28 twice for Heath and 29-29 for Valimaki. Heath stays undefeated and is now 9-0. Valimaki drops to 8-3.

Welterweight Luigi Fioravanti of Orlando, Florida knocked out former champion David Menne of Forest Lake, Minnesota at 4:44 of the first round. Fioravanti improves his record to 11-1. Menne dips to 44-10-1.

Welterweight Brock Larsen beat Keita Nakamura out of Japan by unanimous decision scores of 29-28 by all three judges. Nakamura loses his first one and is now 13-1-2. Larsen improves to19-1.

Middleweight Logan Clark beat Steve Byrnes by unanimous decision. Scores were 30-27 twice and 29-28. Clark improves to 8-0. Byrnes drops his first one and is now 6-1.