UFC Fight Night 108 results: Al Iaquinta destroys Diego Sanchez with combination of right hands

NASHVILLE – One right hand from Al Iaquinta put Diego Sanchez in trouble, and another put him to sleep.

With that, Iaquinta (13-3-1 MMA, 8-2 UFC) earned a violent first-round knockout, leaving Sanchez (27-10 MMA, 16-10 UFC) folded up on the mat just 98 seconds into the fight.

The lightweight bout was the co-main event of today’s UFC Fight Night 108 event at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. It aired on FS1 following prelims on FS2 and UFC Fight Pass.

After catching a kick to the groin to start the fight, Iaquinta soon settled in and began to find his range after two years out of the cage. It didn’t take long for him to find a home for his right hand, as he used his left to pull away Sanchez’s defenses and then hammered Sanchez’s jaw with the other fist.

That shot put Sanchez down, but true to form he refused to stay there long. Sanchez was back up and firing within seconds, but Iaquinta sensed the finish and patiently backed him into the fence, waiting for his opportunity.

It came seconds later, again in the form of a right hand to the jaw, and this time Sanchez sat down and rocked in a slow tilt forward as Iaquinta rushed in to add one more before referee John McCarthy could stop it. That left Sanchez asleep on the canvas while Iaquinta leapt over the fence to celebrate outside the cage, victorious again.

The win is Iaquinta’s fifth consecutive victory in the UFC, with his last loss coming nearly three years ago. Sanchez has now lost two of his last three.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 108 results include:

• Al Iaquinta def. Diego Sanchez via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:38
• Ovince Saint Preux def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima via submission (Von Flue choke) – Round 2, 2:11
• John Dodson def. Eddie Wineland via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Stevie Ray def. Joe Lauzon via majority decision (28-27, 29-27, 28-28)
• Mike Perry def. Jake Ellenberger via knockout (elbow) – Round 2, 1:05
• Thales Leites def. Sam Alvey via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Brandon Moreno def. Dustin ortiz via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:06
• Scott Holtzman def. Michael McBride via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Danielle Taylor def. Jessica Penne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Alexis Davis def. Cindy Dandois via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Bryan Barberena def. Joe Proctor via TKO (knees, punches) – Round 1, 3:30
• Hector Sandoval def. Matt Schnell via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:24

For complete coverage UFC Fight Night 108, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Dann Stupp contributed to this report on site in Nashville.)