Dreams become Ultimate reality for fighters

Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005 | 7:35 a.m.

Unbeaten Diego Sanchez squares off against Nick Diaz in the main event, and two Las Vegas fighters compete in separate bouts on the undercard of today's Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.

A series of featured fights leading to the main event on the mixed martial arts card will determine the champions of the second season of "The Ultimate Fighter," a reality show that airs on Spike TV, Cox cable channel 29. The winners are awarded contracts to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship that the organization's president, Dana White of Las Vegas, describes as being worth "six figures."

Today's card, which begins at 4:15 p.m., will be shown at 9 p.m. on Spike.

Sanchez (15-0 in mixed martial arts) of Albuquerque won the middleweight title in the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter," scoring a first-round stoppage of Kenny Florian in the final at the Cox Pavilion in April. He'll take on Diaz (11-3) of Stockton, Calif., who recently criticized Sanchez by suggesting he inflated his record by going against subpar opponents.

Joe Stevenson (28-6), who fights out of Las Vegas' Cobra Kai Jiu-Jitsu center, will meet Luke Cummo (6-1); and Kit Cope, based at Master Toddy's Muay Thai Center in Las Vegas, will face Florian (5-2). Cope, 2-2 in mixed martial arts, is a four-time professional Muay Thai world champion and a Muay Thai world bare-knuckle champion. He's looking to establish himself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

More than 3 million viewers tuned in to April's light heavyweight final of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter," an action-filled bout in which Forrest Griffin won a close decision against Stephan Bonnar. White, who was so pleased by the fighters' performance in the bout that he awarded both men contracts, said the ratings for season two of "The Ultimate Fighter" have been impressive, especially among young male viewers.

Also on today's card, Brad Imes (5-0) fights Rashad Evans (7-0); Kerry Schall (19-6) faces Keith Jardine (9-2-1); Melvin Guillard (36-5-3) meets Marcus Davis (9-3); and Sammy Morgan (16-6-0) fights Josh Burkman (15-2).