Diego Sanchez defeated Joe Stevenson in a unanimous decision, winning his first mixed martial arts match as a lightweight yesterday in the main event of UFC 95 in London.

As expected following his cut from the welterweight division, Sanchez was quicker to the draw throughout the match.

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. Sanchez improved to 20-2, and may now be in contention to challenge for BJ Penn's UFC lightweight (155 pounds) championship. Stevenson dropped to 29-10.

"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 semi-main event, Nottingham-born Dan Hardy knocked out American Rory Markham at 1:09 of the first round.

On the undercard, England's Paul Kelly defeated BJ Penn protege Troy "Rude Boy" Mandaloniz of Hilo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in a welterweight (170 pounds) bout.

Mandaloniz (3-2) was fighting for the first time since December 2007. He was not active last year because of a neck injury.

Kelly (8-1) used elbow strikes to open a cut above Mandaloniz's left eye in the first round, and maintained control in the second and third rounds.

BOXING

COTTO WINS WBO TITLE

Miguel Cotto won the WBO welterweight champion, stopping Michael Jennings at 2:36 of the fifth round last night at Madison Garden in New York.

A slow starter, Cotto (33-1, 27 KOs) patiently stalked the lightly regarded and overmatched Jennings (34-2) of England, cutting off the ring and landing a steady barrage of head and body shots.

In the co-main event of a split-site doubleheader, Kelly Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) stopped Marco Antonio Rubio (43-5-1), who failed to answer the bell for the ninth round at Youngstown, Ohio.

FISHING

FRALICK TOPS BASSMASTER

Jami Fralick, from Martin, S.D., upped his haul to 38 pounds, 9 ounces to take an 8-ounce lead over Skeet Reese after the second day of the Bassmaster Classic yesterday at Shreveport, La.

Reese, of Auburn, Calif., moved up from 13th place with a five-fish limit of 22 pounds, 9 ounces that gave him 38-1 overall.

The top 25 contenders advanced to final day of competition, and will compete for the $500,000 top prize today.

Kim Bain-Moore of Alabaster, Ala., the first woman to fish the Bassmaster Classic, finished the tournament in 47th place with 12 pounds, 2 ounces.

GYMNASTICS

WIEBER BREAKS THROUGH

Only 13, Jordyn Wieber showed she can hang with the big kids. And then some.

The reigning U.S. junior gymnastics champion made quite an impression in her first major meet yesterday, winning the American Cup at Hoffman Estates, Ill., and joining the likes of Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou Retton and Nastia Liukin. She's the second-youngest champion in the 34-year-old event.

"I think it just puts her on everybody's list," said John Geddert, Wieber's coach. "We've got a long ways to go, but it's a good list to be on."

Germany's Fabian Hambuechen rebounded from his disappointing showing at the Beijing Olympics to win the men's title, edging American David Sender with a spectacular routine on high bar, the last event.

NFL

CRABTREE INJURES FOOT

Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree has a stress fracture in his foot that will sideline him from this weekend's workouts at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

Crabtree is considered the top receiver in this year's draft class.

NFL doctors diagnosed Crabtree with a stress fracture in his left foot. He reportedly will need surgery to insert a screw and might face a recovery of 10 or more weeks.

"It's not a career-ending injury or anything like that," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "He's a good football player, and he's got plenty of time to get well."

WINTER SPORTS

VONN EDGED IN DOWNHILL

Lindsey Vonn lost to Gina Stechert of Germany by a slim 0.01 seconds in the World Cup downhill yesterday at Tarvisio, Italy.

Vonn, who remained tied with Tamara McKinney for the U.S. women's record of 18 World Cup victories, increased her lead in the overall standings.

Stechert wound her way down the Prampero course in 1 minute, 59.94 seconds. Vonn finished a fraction behind, and Anja Paerson of Sweden was third.