“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.

Light heavyweight “Sick Dog” Hector Ramirez (8-3-1) also won a UD over “The Jet” Rick Roufus (4-4) by scores of 29-28 three times. 

After blocking a high kick with his head in round one, Ramirez kept the kickboxing legend off his feet for the “W”.

TUF 3 finalist “Bring the Pain” Josh Haynes (11-10-1), of Xtreme Couture, tapped middleweight Sean Salmon (15-6) in an Achilles lock at 2:49 of round two.

“JJ” Jonathan Mix (2-3) TKO’d welterweight John Halverson (16-7) at 4:25 of round one.

Xtreme Couture prodigy Kui Gonsalves-Kanoho (2-0) tapped “Mighty Mouse” Shawn David (2-2) in a Kimura at 3:51 of round two.

Ryan Haas (1-0) tapped Ian Omalza (2-1) in an armbar at 3:09 of round one.

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.

“I’m a stand-up guy,” Horne confessed after the unanimous decision victory. “I thought he’d throw with me.”

Haynes, known for his gutsy brawling, and Horne tussled mostly on the mat.

“The takedown was there, so why not,” Haynes said.

“Mojo” shot from his corner at the opening bell and, after a flurried exchange, the fighters scrambled to the mat. Haynes swept Horne into Horne’s half guard and “Bring the Pain” brought it from the half mount. Horne soon reversed Haynes, taking the TUF runner-up’s back and sinking his hooks. “Mojo” transitioned to a body triangle as Haynes rocked side-to-side to defend the rear naked choke.

The body triangle would be the key to Horne’s victory.

Haynes admitted after the fight, “I didn’t defend the body triangle properly. I didn’t realize he was going to be that long.”

Towards the end of the first session, Haynes worked his way to a crouch at the cage with Horne on his back; and, eventually, both fighters took their feet for a brawl; but, the round closed back on the mat with Horne easily able to re-take Haynes’s back.

“Mojo” dropped Haynes with a right hook to begin the second round. Haynes scrambled to his feet on fumes and Horne let loose in a flurry, connecting a knee, snapping leg kick, and stiff straight left that drove Haynes to the cage.

In desperation, Haynes dove for a single leg takedown; but, the fighters scrambled back to their feet.

Haynes lunged in with a jarring right hook to Horne’s body, then took “Mojo” to his back.

But, Horne was again able to sweep to Haynes’s back and apply the body triangle. The round closed with Haynes effectively defending the rear naked choke.

“No, I was never in trouble,” described Haynes of Horne’s submission attempts. But, trouble was on the judges’ cards.

Haynes wanted to brawl to begin round three. The warriors threw leather; and Haynes pushed out of Horne’s clinch attempt. Eventually, though, the fight couldn’t avoid the cycle that had been set. The final bell rang with Horne on Haynes’s back, wrapped in a body triangle, while Haynes defended a rear naked choke.

The sold-out crowd roared, anticipating the victory for Horne.

Fighters.com scored all three rounds for undefeated Horne, who said next up is, “Hopefully fighting for more money.”

Haynes was distraught after the loss and complained of the referee allowing the fight to linger on the mat as he successfully defended all of Horne’s rear naked choke attempts.

Before the main event, MMA Big Show Welterweight Champion Dustin Winterhalt (4-0) tapped late replacement Nicco Boscarino (0-1) at 2:27 of the third round beneath a ground’n'pound barrage.

Boscarino withered beneath Winterhalt’s powerful beat down, but defended well-enough for taking the fight on a day’s notice.

“He hasn’t even trained in three weeks,” Boscarino’s trainer said.

In the second round, Boscarino was deducted a point after sucker punching Winterhalt as the referee stood them.

In the third, Winterhalt pounded hammer fists and elbows from side control until Boscarino rolled to his stomach and tapped.

MMA Big Show Heavyweight Champion Brian Heden (4-0) knocked out challenger Rod Housley (2-2) in 1:49.

Heden pushed Housley to the fence and Housley rocketed knees to Heden’s body in the Thai clinch. Heden wrestled for separation and landed a right haymaker that fell Housley.

A late stoppage by the referee caused Housley to take two too many punches on the mat and, after several somber minutes, he had to be escorted from the cage by the paramedics.

Lightweight Chad Hinton (1-0) wore down Mick Berwanger (0-1) in a round-and-a-half with strong G’n'P.

The ripped up Hinton took tatted up Berwanger to the mat in side control to begin the fight. Berwanger was determined to bang, walking back up to his feet.

But, Hinton was more determined. In the clinch, Hinton connected with a knee to Berwanger’s body, then pulled guard. Hinton was just too strong. He hammered Berwanger in spurts of G’n'P; but, the spurts weren’t frequent enough to satisfy the referee.

They were put back on their feet and Hinton closed round one connecting with a right hook, right cross combo.

Hinton went right back to work in round two. He caught a Berwanger kick and dumped his foe, continuing the G’n'P attack. Berwanger rolled to his back and Hinton flattened him out and drove fists into his head until the referee ended the fight.

In amateur action, featherweight Brian Ross (0-0) entered the cage to Hank Williams, Jr. Canadian Scott Gilesby (0-0) trotted in to Eminem. After two action-packed rounds and a nap in the third, Ross left the cage with split decision victory 29-28 twice, 28-29 once. Fighters.com scored it 29-28 for Gilesby and Ross had tapped at the end of the second round anyway, but the ref missed the call.

Cincinnati welterweight Ben Cox (0-0) fought through a broken nose and first-round barrage to choke out Jeff Brooks 38-seconds into the third by rear naked.

“The Marine” Jordan Sullivan (0-0) transitioned quickly into an armbar to submit “The Gorilla” Luis Gonzales (0-0) 33 seconds into round one of a middleweight scrap. Gonzales was later seen in the casino with ice on his left inside elbow.

Lightweight Jon Bilagot (0-0) knocked out Charles Malcolm (0-0) with a knee strike in only nine seconds.

Prince Speights (0-0) submitted “Boss” Matthew Smith (0-0) in an armbar 51 seconds into round two.

“Hit Like 10″ Ray Allen (0-0) submitted “Sub Human” Dylan Human (0-0) in a standing guillotine transitioned after pulling guard.

Heavyweight Mike Powell’s (0-0) seat at the buffet didn’t get cold in the time it took Ron Mitchell (0-0) to TKO him standing.

“The Caveman” David Cagg TKO’d heavyweight Matt Gaustad at 1:26 of the first round.

Photos by Damion Torrez.

Team Quest’s Schultz, 19-9-1, escaped a choke hold applied by 15-6 John Gunderson to grind out a unanimous decision.

Miletich middleweight Ryan McGivern added the IFL 185-pound strap to his belt drawer with a unanimous decision over defending champion “Suave” Matt Horwich of Team Quest.

The back-and-forth rematch was fight of the night ending with the same result as their 2006 fight.

IFL Heavyweight Champion Roy Nelson made quick work of debuting “Pega-Leve” Fabiano Scherner with TKO at 3:20 of round one.

On the undercard, 17-3 middleweight Jake Ellenberger won a unanimous decision over “Bam Bam” Pat Healy.

BTT light heavy “Cacareco” Alexandre Ferreira submitted ATT’s Lew Polley in 20 seconds for 16th “W” against five losses.

Late substitution “Bring the Pain” Josh Haynes of Team Quest won a unanimous decision over Brazilian Leopoldo Serao to pull even at 9-9.

ATT lightweight Rafael Dias submitted 11-4 Santino Defranco at 2:03 of round one to raise his record to 10-3-1.

Finally, featherweight “The Barn Owl” Ian Loveland of Team Quest guillotine choked Xtreme Couture’s “Piranha” Dennis Davis 58-seconds into round two for his ninth win against seven losses.