LONDON — Diego Sanchez defeated Joe Stevenson in a unanimous decision, winning his first match as a lightweight today in the main event of UFC 95.

As expected following his cut from the welterweight division, Sanchez was largely the quickest to the draw throughout the contest.

He battered Stevenson with punches and knees to the body and head. Having been the aggressor in the first two rounds of the contest, Sanchez took a more defensive approach in the third, to solidify the win.

Judges scored the fight 29-28, 30-27, 30-27.

"It's my fault for anything that happened (in the match)," said Stevenson. "I lost. I went into this fight reluctantly — Diego has been a friend for a while. But now I want a rematch; I want a second shot and won't leave it up to the judges. Now, I know what to expect."

In the first bout of the evening, Paul Kelly defeated BJ Penn protege Troy Mandaloniz of Hilo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

In the evening's semi-main event, Nottingham-born Dan Hardy knocked American Rory Markham at 1:09 of the first round.

Stalking his opponent, Markham attempted to throw a right hand, but in failing to connect, he left himself open for a left hook, which forced him to the ground for a result that thrilled the crowd.

"My intention was to draw him in to make mistakes," Hardy said. "He's an aggressive fighter who can put people to sleep. My intention was to keep him guessing, use fakes, and make him throw as he really commits to his punches. And that is what happened. I was expecting to knock him out with the right, actually, and the left hook followed on nicely."

In a bout to decide the next challenger to middleweight champion Anderson Silva, Nate Marquardt's conditioning advantage was a major factor in his TKO win over Wilson Gouveia, at 3:10 of the third round. The Brazilian faded in the middle of the second round.

Demian Maia upped his record to 10-0 with a submission victory over former WEC competitor Chael Sonnen. After the bout, he too claimed that he was ready for a title shot at Silva.

In the opening bout of the main card, welterweight contender Josh Koscheck was knocked out by Paulo Thiago, making his UFC debut, a result that was the biggest surprise in that weight class since Matt Serra defeated Georges St. Pierre in April 2007.

On the undercard, Terry Etim's devastating kicks were the key to his TKO victory over Brian Cobb.

Junior Dos Santos proved that his October win over Fabricio Werdum was no fluke with a TKO of Stefan Struve in 54 seconds.

UFC newcomer Evan Dunham knocked out Eklund in the first round. Mike Ciesnolevicz made short work of Neil Grove, submitting him in 63 seconds with a heel hook.