Last night, BJ Penn (155lbs) defeated Diego Sanchez (154 1/2lbs) in a fight which many analysts thought would be one of his toughest fights ever. However, BJ won it with consummate ease, and retained his UFC Lightweight Title in the process.

The first was catastrophic for Sanchez. He immediately walked onto a right hand which floored him, and Penn was quick to capitalise; battering Sanchez with vicious ground and pound. 'The Nightmare' showed great heart to get up and carry on fighting, but he was seriously shaken by this brutal assault.

Penn took a more patient approach in the second, although in fairness, his right straight still looked lethal. Sanchez' corner had ordered their fighter to look for takedowns, and while he tried hard for them, BJ Penn's takedown defence was just too good for him.

He tried more of the same in round three, but he still had no luck. To make things worse, BJ turned up the pace towards the end of the round, and was starting to hunt Sanchez down.

Come round four, and Sanchez' lack of head movement was really making him suffer. Penn was accurate and precise with all of his power punches, and Sanchez couldn't get out of the way of them. Furthermore, Sanchez was still looking for this takedown, which he'd seemingly no chance of getting.

fighters wanted to finish the fight early in the fifth. For Diego, it was his only hope of victory, whereas BJ wanted to send out a message to the rest of the Lightweight division. Penn achieved his goal; slicing the head of 'The Nightmare' open with a vile knee and forcing a horrific cut which made the ringside doctor call a stop to the bout after 2:37 of the stanza.

Penn is definitely the best Lightweight in the world now, as he brushed away the challenge of Sanchez (who was without a doubt the number one contender) with no problems. He moves to 15-5-1. Sanchez on the other hand decreases to 23-3, and he will surely need a long rest after the beating he took at the hands of 'the Prodigy'.

In the co-main event, a much bigger Frank Mir than normal (264 1/2lbs) looked incredible in beating Cheick Kongo (239lbs) in just 72 seconds. Before the fight, Frank declared "I'm a better boxer than you Cheick", and he proved to be right, as he connected with a massive overhand left which dropped Kongo. Mir then took a guillotine choke, which because of Kongo's refusal to tap put the Frenchman out cold. Mir, who now wants a third fight with Brock Lesnar raises to 13-4, unlike Kongo who moves to 24-6-1.

Jon Fitch's (171lbs) fight with Mike Pierce (171lbs) was extremely close, although Fitch did just enough to earn the 'W'. The first was tough to score, because for a large portion of the round, Fitch controlled the back of his foe, but Pierce probably did more damage with a big takedown, and he cut Fitch in the striking exchanges.

In the second, Fitch took a more active approach, and threw lots of varied, precise strikes. Furthermore, he took the back of Pierce several times, and consequently nullified the threat of the excellent wrestler.

 Round three was very close. Fitch had controlled the round with a large variety of solid punches, kicks and knees, but was himself hurt at the end by a good left hook from Pierce. In the end, all three judges scored the bout 29-28 to Jon Fitch, taking his record to 24-3 1NC, whereas Pierce is now 9-3. Even though he lost here, Pierce has the wrestling and the raw potential to come back and do very well in the Welterweight division.

Kenny Florian (156lbs) looked outstanding against the always game Clay Guida (156lbs), using his much improved boxing to stop his foe in the second. The first had been fairly even at first, although towards the end of the round, Florian scored a couple of big takedowns, and opened a massive cut on the side of Guida's head.

Round two started with Florian's better technique prevailing, and he managed to connect with a hellacious one-two which floored Guida and left him a sitting duck to a rear naked choke (from which he had to tap). Florian, who must have put himself back in title contention with that performance goes to 14-4. On the other hand, Guida decreased to 25-8, and despite his fun to watch style, is starting to look an irrelevant player in the UFC Lightweight division.

 21 year old Stefan Struve's (247lbs) bout against Paul Buentello (255lbs) was superb entertainment. Despite being locked in a body triangle for well over half of the first, Buentello showed a ton of heart to floor Struve twice with right straights in the second, a round during which they traded for long periods. 'The Skyscraper' held on though, and leg kicked well in the third, en route to a majority decision, with scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 28-28. He improves to 23-3, while Buentello drops to 25-11.

 In a toe-to-toe war, Alan Belcher (195lbs), who was sporting some ridiculously pink shorts, defeated the tough Brazilian Wilson Gouveia (193lbs). Both had their moments and connected with decent strikes, but Belcher's power and desire shone through, with the uppercut being a particularly important weapon for him. This stoppage after 3:02 of the first takes Belcher to 15-6. In contrast, Gouveia's record now stands at 12-7.

TUF 10 housemate Damarques Johnson (171lbs) proved his toughness against Edgar Garcia (171lbs) in an exciting contest. Garcia dominated initially, pressing the action standing, and then nearly making Johnson tap with an arm triangle. However, Johnson showed great resilience, and after being decked, he sank in a triangle choke to take the victory and move to 14-7, while Garcia falls to 7-2, and after losing his only two fights in the UFC, his days in the organisation are surely numbered.

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