Although it flew under the radar, much like the show itself, the lightweight scrap pitting Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson at tonight's (Sat., April 20, 2013) UFC on Fox 7: "Henderson vs. Melendez" event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, was expected to be "Fight of the Night."

With Matt Brown vs. Jordan Mein going the way it did just before it, that was a tall order.

Both men proved up to the task early on, with Diaz doing what a Diaz does and taunting his opponent right from the outset. It wasn't to force the fight, certainly, as Thomson was bringing it when he found an opening. The first time that happened was when he landed a clean head kick straight to Nate's Stockton tested chin.

And it held up.

Still, despite his aggression, always pushing forward, Diaz was on the business end of an ass whooping throughout the first five minutes.

He didn't let that get him down, electing to rush out at the start of the second stanza to once again establish position. He ran into resistance quick, though, and ended up grappling in place of a striking attack that simply wasn't working. He earned a takedown but did nothing with it. He tried a guillotine, but couldn't get anything there either.

Then, when they went back to standing, Thomson did his damage.

A head kick hurt Diaz bad, and this time Thomson capitalized on it. Diaz, though game, simply couldn't withstand the onslaught. Actually, Diaz's corner had seen enough after the referee gave Nate every chance to recover and they threw in the towel.

It didn't matter. The referee stepped in a short second or two later and that was that.

Josh Thomson just became the first man to finish Nate Diaz in the UFC.

Wow.

For complete UFC on Fox 7 results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.