LEMOORE, Calif. -- Palace Fighting Championship lightweight champion Diego Saraiva (Pictures) was looking to make his first title defense Thursday, which some say is always the hardest.

Someone forgot to tell Brian Cobb (Pictures) that Saraiva was a UFC veteran and, in most eyes, the favorite.

Saraiva had a tough time taking down the challenger due to Cobb's strong wrestling background. In fact, Saraiva even tried to pull guard more than a few times while fans voiced their disapproval.

Cobb controlled the fight by sitting in Saraiva's guard and peppering him with punches and elbows. Although he had to fend off a few submission attempts, Cobb never really seemed in too much trouble. In the end, the local boy got to drive back up the 99 with his shiny new belt after taking a unanimous decision.

Local favorite Poppies Martinez (Pictures) hoped to start a new winning streak against another local fighter in Sergio Cortez (Pictures).

Martinez started the fight off with a nice, strong takedown. He then trapped Cortez in a guillotine choke, only to have him pull out and cause a scramble. When Martinez rolled over, he appeared to pop a rib and the fight was stopped as he rolled around, looking to be in serious pain.

IFL veteran Devin Cole (Pictures) found himself out of the IFL ring for the first time in a while for his fight against MMA veteran Vince Lucero (Pictures).

Lucero claimed in his prefight video that no one had ever knocked him out. Well, he still has not been knocked out, but he took another loss on his record in a fight that was uneventful.

Cole threw a few punches and then got the takedown and mount. He hit Lucero with punches that were not really finding their mark, but Lucero was not getting out of the bad position either. Cecil Peoples saw enough and ended the fight at 1:17.

The always entertaining Olaf Alfonso (Pictures), coming off his impressive knockout of promising star Casey Olson (Pictures), took on Team Wildman representative Chris Solomon (Pictures). The knockout of the night resulted, as Solomon walked into a big right hand on the chin and fell face first to the mat. He ate one more strike before referee Josh Rosenthal stepped in at 28 seconds of round one.

Art Arciniega (Pictures) was looking to keep his featherweight belt in a bout against tough Jorge Evangelista (Pictures). The fight was a classic battle of two fighters that gave a lot of respect to each other and it showed, slowing the fight down a few times.

There were some splashes of a pure slugfest, but it didn't happen often, as Arciniega was aware of Evangelista's takedowns. When all was said and done, another belt changed hands after Evangelista had won the unanimous decision.

Talented Nate Loughran (Pictures), a student of David Terrell (Pictures), looked to add a belt to his collection against submission wizard Kenny Ento (Pictures) for the PFC middleweight title.

Loughran almost caught Ento in his own game, as Ento had to escape a few submission attempts after a nice trip coming from Loughran in round one. Ento came out with a few good leg kicks in the second, only to find himself back on the mat, where Loughran landed some hard body shots that caused Ento to give up his back. Loughran was then able to sink the choke for the belt.

You always wonder how a young fighter is going to react in his first fight back from a knockout. Pit Fight's young, talented wrestler Casey Olson (Pictures) looked confident in his bout with local Lemoore fighter Sergio Quinones. Quinones looks to have some talent, but Olson was just too much for him Thursday. After a takedown, Olson mounted his opponent and took his back for the choke at 46 seconds.

A long-time training partner of Urijah Faber (Pictures), Dustin Akabari defeated Cody Canterbury by TKO at 1:37 of round one. Akabari was able to get the takedown and trap Canterbury's arms in a type of crucifix, then pound away until the referee stopped the fight.

Lodune Sincaid (Pictures) had a rare fight without blood. He made quick work of Rafael Del Real, choking him out with a guillotine. Afterward Del Real had to watch the television screens to figure out what had happened in the fight.

Another belt was awarded in a PFC interim bantamweight title fight. Shawn Klarcyk (Pictures) defeated Jason Georgianna (Pictures) by kneebar at 57 seconds of round two. Klarcyk showed his wrestling skills by taking the fight to the ground in both rounds.

Another Urijah Faber (Pictures) disciple, Joseph Benavidez (Pictures), defeated Maurice Eazel (Pictures) by rear-naked choke 1:02 into the first. Benavidez secured a triangle, and Eazel picked him up and slammed him a few times to get out of the hold, only to find Benavidez on his back and sinking in the choke.

Thonglor Armatsena (Pictures) -- Urijah Faber (Pictures)'s muay Thai coach, who is better known as Master Thong -- competed in his second MMA fight against the game Dan Russom. At one point Russom landed an illegal elbow that caused some confusion. The fight was called off at first after a point had been taken away from Russom, only to learn Thong wanted to continue. Russom eventually took a majority decision.