PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 22 -- Mike Pierce (Pictures) delivered a message to his former gym, overwhelming Team Quest's Ed Nuño for a unanimous judges' decision to become the new Sportfight welterweight champion Saturday night.

In the wake of reports that Floyd Mayweather's was considering a move from boxing to mixed martial arts after discussing the idea with his "Dancing with the Stars" co-star Mark Cuban, Sportfight XXI represented the first collaboration between Cuban's new venture, HDNet Fights, and Randy "The Natural" Couture and Matt "The Law" Lindland's Sportfight series.

"Mark [Cuban] sent me an E-mail [about Mayweather's discussion] and told me he would keep me in the loop," Lindland said before the fight. "Obviously, this only makes us more excited to be co-promoting this event with Mark Cuban and HDNet Fights."

The main event never seemed in doubt, and always seemed headed for a judge's decision.

Other than a first round punch that left Pierce's brow trickling blood, Pierce was able to dive through almost all of Nuño's spinning kicks and blows, earning takedown after takedown. Late in the final round, Pierce was twice able to lift Nuño for massive suplexes, convincing the judges to award him the welterweight belt with scores of 29-28 and 30-27 twice.

After the fight, Nuño jawed at Pierce and had to be lightly restrained by the referee, adding some fire for a potential rematch for the title.

The bad blood between the fighters is not new. Pierce left Team Quest over a year ago to join Braveheart Gym. While the grudge between Pierce and Team Quest seemed to have been washed away by October's five-second victory over Quest trainer Mike Dolce (Pictures), Nuño and Pierce had plenty of words for each other until well after the final bell had rung.

"What he said doesn't matter," Pierce said. "It's just talk. I've just got to keep pushing forward. Tonight I took it to the ground and got the win. It wasn't flashy, but I'll take it."

In the co-main event, heavyweight Jeremiah Constant of Team Quest fought talented Lion's Den first-timer Josh Queen, who came in at 9-0 as an amateur for a chance to claim the vacant title once held by Jeff Monson (Pictures).

Queen looked outmatched at first, as Constant came out with more energy and better striking ability. But Queen's extra size -- 259 1/2 pounds to Constant's 242 -- ended up as the deciding factor.

Queen was being punished in the ropes but was able to take advantage of Constant's position, throwing him to the mat. Queen then mounted Constant from behind, delivering a number of thick blows to the head.

Queen got in position for a rear-naked choke, causing Constant to tap out with just four tics left on the clock in the first round. The submission earned Queen the Sportfight heavyweight belt after just his first professional fight.

In a lightweight bout, Mike Joy (Pictures), fighting out of Brian Johnson's Kickboxing Academy, handed Zac George, of Team Quest Fight Club, his second professional loss.

Joy and George were the two best matched fighters on the card. Joy had the edge in grappling but George landing more blows with his superior striking. The tip to Joy may have come in the first round when George went for a roundhouse kick and slipped to the mat. Joy immediately pounced, landing several punches to George's face before George was able to break free.

In the end the fight, the hardest to score on the night, went the distance with a unanimous decision (30-27 and 29-28 twice) in Joy's favor.

In other fights:

Middleweight Cory Devela (Pictures) got the better of former "The Ultimate Fighter" participant Lodune Sincaid (Pictures) in a particularly bloody match.

Devela cornered Sincaid numerous times throughout the fight and delivered multiple fists and elbows, opening up cuts on Sincaid's nose and head.

On the ground, Devela couldn't quite finish with a rear-naked choke, but was awarded a 30-26 decision by all three judges.

Iraq war veteran Tommy Truex, of Jackson's Submission Fighting, got the better of Ferrid Kheder (Pictures), of Team Quest, in a puncher's duel, with a unanimous decision (30-27 and 29-28 twice).

International Fight League Wolfpack member Aaron Stark (Pictures) earned one of the fastest submissions of the night with a referee's decision (guillotine choke) 47 seconds after the opening bell against Dallas Browning, of Kansas City, Kan.

In this matchup of light heavyweights, Stark was clearly superior, clinching Browning into a bear hug with Browning's neck pressed tight against his own chest.

Browning, who had a 9-0 record as an amateur, was slow to respond after the fight -- briefly worrying the crowd -- but was soon back up.

Two featherweights with a combined 59 professional bouts came together and Bryan Caraway of Team Quest/Yakima MMA emerged victorious, securing a rear-naked choke on journeyman Dave Cochran (Pictures) of St. Louis, Mo.

Former All-American wrestler Nathan Coy (Pictures), of Team Quest, continued his grappling dominance with a unanimous 29-28 decision over Ricky Story of Braveheart Gym in a welterweight fight. Coy was in peak physical shape and, despite being the inferior striker in this fight, is set to climb the ladder.

Lightweight Dave Jansen (Pictures), of Team Quest, put Jeremy Burnett, of New Breed Jujitsu, into an anaconda choke and didn't let go.

In the opening fight, Tyson Jeffries (Pictures) grappled his way to a unanimous 30-27 victory over Cody Lueder in a matchup of welterweights.