LAS VEGAS, Nov. 5 — If Hispanic fight fans needed a reason to embrace mixed martial arts, they may have found it Saturday night. Diego Sanchez (Pictures), of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Nick Diaz (Pictures), of Stockton, Calif., proved to be every bit the Chicano warrior in the main event of Saturday’s card at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

Punctuating the close of SpikeTV’s successful second season of the “Ultimate Fighter,” Diaz and Sanchez fought tantamount to a grappling version of Barrera-Morales. (And like Barrera and Morales, who met three times in the ring, it would be a shame if Sanchez and Diaz did not fight again.)

Headlining a card featuring TUF II heavyweight finalists Rashad Evans (Pictures) and Brad Imes (Pictures) and welterweights Joe Stevenson (Pictures) and Luke Cummo, it was Diaz and Sanchez who not only showed the stamina, spirit and tenacity to tussle for three rounds, but the skills worthy of world-class welterweights.

The 23-year-old Sanchez, who just eight months ago was in the same position as tonight’s TUF competitors, moved his record to 14-0-0 with an enthralling performance against the one of the division’s most dangerous combatants.

A furious pace accompanied the start of the fight. Sanchez and Diaz (11-4-0) used the ample real estate of the Octagon, which this reporter viewed from standing-room-only seats on the balcony of the host hotel’s “The Joint,” to grapple and scrap their way through the first round. The positions and reversals were too fast to keep track, each folding into the next with the precision of an origami sculpture.

Heading into the middle period, the fighters’ output and intake was even —Sanchez, though, earned the first on the strength of his positioning, not an insignificant thing considering how the remainder of the bout played out.

Reversals, submission attempts and awkward positions continued to permeate round two, yet it was Sanchez who widened his edge by out-positioning Diaz and landing numerous elbows from the top.

Diaz spent much of the five-minute round working from his back, and despite several attempts at armbar or Kimura he couldn’t come close to catching the submission-savvy welterweight.

(After the fight Diaz would say that it felt as if Sanchez was “greased up.” Sanchez, who spent an hour at the hospital to close up several wounds incurred during the 15-minutes against Diaz, could not be reached for comment.)

Down two rounds on each judge’s scorecard, Diaz had to find a way to stifle the burgeoning star’s takedowns. He found some success early in the third, scrambling and working free several times. But soon enough Sanchez planted Diaz back on the canvas, where soon the technical scrap turned into a crimson mess.

By fight’s end the combination of a gash on the right side of Diaz’ hairline and an ugly cut above Sanchez’ right eye left the floor looking like a defective Rorschach Test.

The addition of blood hardly slowed either man during the final third of a fight so action-packed that referee John McCarthy never once had to intervene.

Though the judges’ tallies of 30-27 makes it appear like a less-than competitive contest, Sanchez-Diaz, in reality, could not have much closer.

As with his only other loss in the Octagon, a decision against Karo Parisyan (Pictures), Diaz’ inability to fight more often from the top and stop takedowns led to his demise.

Sanchez, however, has clearly established himself as more than just a reality show sideshow — not a surprise to those who followed his ascent in King of the Cage, where his combination of wrestling and submission acumen, as well as a deep cardio reservoir, make for a dangerous fighter.

TUF Finals

Joining Sanchez and Forrest Griffin (Pictures), winners of April’s “Ultimate Fighter” finals, Rashad Evans (Pictures) and Joe Stevenson (Pictures) earned the “six-figure contracts” and brand new car that have come to mark such an accomplishment.

In the heavyweight finals, Evans bested a game Brad Imes (Pictures) in a three-round clash that will be remembered as much for Evans’ left hand as Imes’ persistence.

Outweighed by some 40 pounds — the largest margin versus any opponent in his career — and outsized by some eight inches, Evans used his quickness on the outside to fire off jabs and lead hooks. Though one might have expected Imes, a relative newcomer to MMA, to use his significant size advantage to wear down the lighter, more mobile Evans, he instead welcomed the opportunity to exchange on the outside.

There, he found no answer for Evans’ left.

During the opening period, Evans capitalized off two solid lefts with a stinging straight right that put Imes on the canvas for the first time. The big man, however, refused to give in, and he stood and pressed Evans back.

No Evans’ attack was met by an Imes’ retreat. In fact, Imes never backpedaled, despite repeatedly tasting his quick challenger’s punches.

At the midway point of the fight, Evans, in spite of his edge on the feet, looked as if he wouldn’t make it. His hands down by his hips with a charging elephant of a man in front of him, Evans had to endure punches that appeared slow and harmless, like falling timber, until which time they actually crashed into their intended target.

Deadlocked headed into the third, both fatigued, Evans scored big with a left hook-right straight combo that felled the 6’ 7” Imes. Yet, as he’d throughout the prior 10 minutes, Imes recovered and advanced, enough so that he could score a takedown just past the halfway point of the final round.

As the seconds ticked down, the pace slowed but the spirit did not, neither man apparently willing to cede a thing. The heavyweights, who appear welcome additions to a UFC division in dire need of life, stood and punched … and punched … and punched until the final bell mercifully tolled.

Judges Abe Belardo and Glenn Trowbridge had it 29-28 for Evans, while Tony Weeks gave it to Imes by the same tally. Sherdog.com scored it 29-28 Evans.

The welterweight that was supposed to win it all did on Saturday, though it did not come easy and it did not come against a fighter thought of as having a legit shot to reach the finals.

Joe Stevenson (Pictures) earned every bit of his unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 twice) over New Yorker Luke Cummo, in a bout few thought would go the distance, let alone escape the opening round.

There wasn’t much mystery to this one. Stevenson, a Californian fighting out of Las Vegas, wanted it on the floor. Cummo did not. But as often the case in mixed martial arts, the grappler came out ahead.

Working around Cummo’s height and reach advantages — significant considering Stevenson’s smallish welterweight build — the grappler repeatedly put Cummo on this back after the midway point of round one.

For all the punishment he endured in the opening five minutes, Cummo looked fresh and ready to fight as action moved into the second period. And he used a stiff right hand to stumble Stevenson across the Octagon, making sure everyone in the building knew he wasn’t going quietly. Yet, that was his highlight of the night, and the wrestler quickly recovered to put the eccentric fighter back on the canvas.

A succession of Stevenson’ position advancements, guard passes and near submissions followed. With the crowd cheering for the underdog, action moved into the final round. Cummo embraced their good graces and made takedowns difficult. But the lanky welterweight’s counters soon gave way to being on bad end of Stevenson’s elbows and punches.

As seemed to be the case with Sanchez when he won the middleweight prize in April, Stevenson too appears undersized to be a force in the division he won the TUF prize. Making his task more difficult is that widely held sentiment that 170 is the deepest division in the organization.

Yet with no apparent movement in the UFC towards a revitalization of the lightweights, Stevenson has nowhere to cut. Until further notice, he’ll have to earn his way into the upper echelon at welterweight if he plans on enjoying the same success as Sanchez or Griffin.