The Weekly Wrap: Feb. 21 - Feb. 27

The Weekly Wrap walks readers through the last seven days in MMA, recapping and putting into context the week's top story, important news and notable quotes.

Top Story

Diego Sanchez proved sturdy in his unveiling as a lightweight on Feb. 21, hanging tough over three rounds against Joe Stevenson to take a unanimous decision in the main event. Sanchez got off to a slow start as Stevenson proved aggressive on the feet, but Sanchez quickly established his range, clipping Stevenson with stiff uppercuts and his trademark speedy and emphatic grappling. Sanchez said he's willing to stick to the new weight as long as the UFC would like, and named Kenny Florian, B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk as 155-pounders he's ready to face.

The bout headlined a same-day Spike TV broadcast that evening in the U.S. and which aired live in the United Kingdom on Setanta Sports. The show did a 1.6 rating on Spike TV, which figures out to an average of 2.4 million viewers. That's about 200,000 less than UFC 89 in October, the last numbered UFC card to air on Spike. UFC 95 numbers reached a peak of 3 million viewers for the Sanchez vs. Stevenson main attraction, also down slightly from the 3.4 million-viewer peak for the UFC 89 headliner of Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben. All but one fight at UFC 95 ended up making air in the U.S., but all fights aired on Setanta. The Spike broadcast scored its typically strong numbers in the Male 18-49 demographic.

The show drew 13,268 to the 02 Arena in London for a $1 million gate. That’s well down from the $2.93 million take for the UFC’s last event in the 02 London, UFC 85, which was set to be headlined by Chuck Liddell before he was injured. The UFC's United Kingdom operations turned "modestly profitable" in 2008, according to a recent credit review from Standard and Poor's. Marketing to that audience will continue in earnest this year. Spike TV launched its first ads for season nine of The Ultimate Fighter “Team USA v. Team UK” during the UFC 95 broadcast and UFC U.K. President Marshall Zelaznik told Fighters Only magazine that the company is planning on a summer and fall event in the United Kingdom.

UFC 95’s final fight was one of only two to go to a decision on the night, which made the awarding of performance bonuses a tough call. Sanchez and Stevenson took $40,000 “Fight of the Night” bonuses, while the payout for “Best Submission” went to middleweight jiu-jitsu master Demian Maia, who expertly swept Chael Sonnen into a perfect position for a triangle choke. Maia, who has earned “Submission of the Night” in four of his five UFC fights, will likely be paired next with Nathan Marquardt, who showcased exceptional striking against Wilson Gouveia, finishing the American Top Team fighter in the third round with an otherworldly kick-backfist-punch combination for the TKO.

Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites vie for the middleweight title at UFC 97 on April 18, with the winner likely defending next against the winner of a Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping match in July.

In the co-main event at UFC 95, U.K.-bred welterweight Dan Hardy upped his stature, as the mohawked striker perfectly timed a left hook to knock out Rory Markham. Hardy, who defeated tenured veteran Akihiro Gono in his UFC debut, was being looked at as a bona fide welterweight force after the performance, was called out Marcus Davis post-fight. Hardy, born and raised in Nottingham, mocked the American-born Davis for playing to British audiences in his past performances.

Little-known Brazilian fighter Paulo Thiago may have been brought to London to bolster the record of top-five welterweight Josh Koshceck, but he left with a frontrunner for upset of the year and a $40,000 bonus for “Knockout of the Night.” Thiago gamely absorbed solid striking in the opening moments of the fight before finding an opening for an uppercut that dropped Koscheck and left him loopy. The stoppage, which came as Thiago hovered over Koscheck but did not pursue, sparked a round of debate about whether or not Koscheck was capable of defending himself. The win put Thiago, likely in no one's top 30 at welterweight before the fact, at No. 6 in Sherdog's 170-pound rankings, one above Koscheck. The uber-busy Koscheck is reportedly ready to fight again at UFC 98 in May, according to MMAWeekly.com.

Koscheck was far from the only fighter on the card zapped by a hard shot. UFC newcomer Evan Dunham creamed Per Eklund with a left straight to remain undefeated, heavyweight Junior dos Santos overwhelmed Stefan Struve with slugging shots against the fence and U.K. lightweight Terry Etim used a head kick to end California-based Brian Cobb's nine-fight pro win streak. Also picking up wins at UFC 95 was IFL veteran Mike Ciesnolevicz (heelhook to defeat Neil Grove) and Paul Kelly (unanimous decision over Troy Mandaloniz). Kelly said he plans to move from welterweight to lightweight for his next fight; Mandaloniz was cut from the UFC after the loss.

Note: This article was updated March 1 at 1:44 EST to correct the finish of Kelly-Mandaloniz and to note that two UFC 95 bouts went the distance.