It was a clean sweep for the home team - Xtreme Couture - in Las Vegas Saturday night with all five of their entries in A Night of Combat II picking up wins. "The Natural" John Alessio (24-11) knocked welterweight Gideon Ray (15-10-1) cold on the mat in 45 seconds. Xtreme Couture's Alessio whipped a left hook over a Ray right hand and dropped Ray.  Alessio finished the job with hammer strikes, leaving the fellow former UFC fighter unconscious. "Quicksand" Mike Pyle (18-5-1) of Xtreme Couture transitioned slickly into an armbar from full mount to tap welterweight Brian Gassaway (28-19-2) as he attempted roll free at 4:21 of round one in another battle of former Octagon fighters. Xtreme Couture welterweight "Thorobread" Jay Hieron (16-4) won a one-sided unanimous decision over late replacement Chris Kennedy (6-6) by judges' scores of 30-27 three times. Hieron's original opponent, Bryson Kamaka (6-13), failed his pre-fight urinalysis. ...

Xtreme Couture welterweights "Thorobred" Jay Hieron (15-4) and "Quicksand" Mike Pyle (17-5-1) will headline A Night of Combat II in Las Vegas 11 October. Former IFL titlist Hieron has been matched, if not undermatched, versus Bryson Kamaka (6-13) while Pyle will fight vet Brian Gassaway (28-18-2). Also on the card, welterweight "The Natural" John Alessio (23-11) will return after a "W" over "Secret Weapon" Pete Spratt (18-14) in A Night of Combat's debut to battle Gideon Ray (15-9-1). Light heavyweights "Sick Dog" Hector Ramirez (7-3-1) and kickboxing vet "The Jet" Rick Roufus (4-3) will face-off. And, TUF 3 finalist "Bring the Pain" Josh Haynes (10-10) will fight "Seargent" Steve Byrnes (6-1). The card features eight men's MMA bouts at the Thomas & Mack Center. ...

Former UFC middleweight contender "The Crow" David Loiseau (16-8) righted his fluttering career Saturday night with a unanimous decision victory over Todd Gouwenberg (7-4) at Hardcore Championship Fighting's event in Loiseau's home nest of Gatineau, Quebec. Gouwenberg, perhaps only notable after giving "Minotoro"Antonio Rogerio Noguiera (13-3) a spirited round-and-a-half before being TKO'd, was thoroughly dominated as "The Crow" pecked at him with sharp elbows. Louiseau, who had won just one of his last five, took the cards by scores of 30-25 and 30-26 twice, fairing far better than fellow former UFC fighters on the undercard. Light heavyweight Rob MacDonald (5-3) dropped a unanimous decision to Team Oyama's "Sick Dog" Hector Ramirez (7-3-1); and, welterweight Gideon Ray (14-8-1) also failed to convince the judges in a UD "L" to "The Thrill" Nabil Khatib. Light heavyweight Brent Beauparlant (7-5) won a unanimous decision over Amir Rahnavardi (9-9) before his fellow Quebecois. "The Handler" Dan Hornbuckle (15-1) submitted middleweight Andrew Buckland (5-1) in an armbar at 3:34 of round one. Featherweight Bill Boland (4-0) remained undefeated with a TKO of "Hasa" Michal Hamrsmid of Bohemia. "The Sargeant" Jameel Massouh (16-3) scored a UD over "The Cowboy" Myles Merola (9-5) at featherweight. Brazilian middleweight Rodrigo Ruas (4-5-1) submitted countrymen "Ossoduro" Marcus Vinicios (4-5) in an arm triangle choke 52-seconds into round three. Former welterweight PRIDE fighter "Nino" Antonio Schembri (5-4) got back in the black with an armbar submission "The Bighouse" Daniel Grandmaison at 2:37 of round one. ...