Lightweights head UFC bill

The main event of Saturday’s Ultimate Fighting Championship card in London is an intriguing lightweight fight between Joe Stevenson and Diego Sanchez.

Stevenson has lost two of his last three bouts, but the defeats came at the hands of the top two fighters in the division: BJ Penn and Kenny Florian.

Sanchez will be fighting at lightweight for the first time. A former winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” at 185 pounds, Sanchez has fought at 170 for much of his career but now will try to prove himself as a contender at 155.

“The winner of this fight is bar none, not only in the fan’s eyes but in a lot of the fighters’ eyes, deserving of any title shot,” Stevenson said on a conference call.

The card is a numbered event — UFC 95 — but will not air on pay per view. Instead, it is scheduled to be shown tape delayed at 9 p.m. on Spike (Cable 29).

Also on the card, former World Extreme Cagefighting middleweight champion Chael Sonnen returns to the UFC to meet submission whiz Demian Maia.

Sonnen has found success outside the organization but was 1-2 in his previous stint in the UFC. Maia is a three-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and has built a 10-0 mixed martial arts record, including submission victories in all four of his UFC appearances.

Josh Koscheck will fight for the third time in four months, trying to continue his climb up the welterweight division. With a victory over UFC newcomer Paulo Thiago, Koscheck could be in line to fight the winner of the title bout between Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves.

Nate Marquardt will meet Wilson Gouveia in a matchup of middleweight contenders.

• PARISYAN TESTS POSITIVE — UFC welterweight Karo Parisyan tested positive for several painkillers after his split-decision victory over Dong Hyun Kim at the MGM Grand on Jan. 31.

Parisyan’s test showed amounts of hydrocodone, hydromorphone and oxymorphone, according to the Nevada Athletic Commission.

It was the only positive among the fighters on the card who were tested.

• YOUNGER COUTURE VICTORIOUS — Ryan Couture, the son of MMA legend Randy Couture, beat Art Martinez by submission in the second round of Sunday’s Tuff-N-Uff amateur event at The Orleans.

The 26-year-old Couture is 2-0 as an amateur.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@ reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.