by BRIAN KNAPP, The Fight Network

Updated: April 16, 2008, 4:48 PM EST 24 comments

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Florian dodged several bullets but outmatched Joe Lauzon in the featured bout at UFC Fight Night 13 as he put away his fellow New Englander with a combination of slick Brazilian jiu-jitsu, supreme conditioning and a boatload of second-round strikes on Wednesday.

The curtain closed on Lauzon 3:28 into round two when Florian mounted his exhausted foe three times and finished him with a barrage of punches and elbows. When Lauzon was able to sustain an acceptable defense, referee Herb Dean intervened.

"Joe's a great competitor," Florian said. "I knew it would be a tough fight; it's what I wanted. I was able to just push through. I'm not going to let anybody break my will in here."

Eight years his opponent's junior, Lauzon appeared the stronger of the two in the first round as he scored with a pair of takedowns and threatened Florian twice with heel hooks. But by the time the round ended, the 23-year-old Lauzon had wilted in the thin mountain air and was ripe for the picking.

The win, Florian's fourth in a row, keeps him in 155-pound title contention. A product of season one of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series, Florian (9-3, 7-2 UFC) has shown marked improvement since he failed in his bid to capture the UFC lightweight championship in a decision loss Sean Sherk at UFC 64. His string of six consecutive wins snapped, Lauzon (16-4, 3-1 UFC) had not been finished in a fight since he submitted to Rafael Assuncao in February 2006.

Lauzon was not the only lightweight to have a long winning streak broken.

Gray Maynard overwhelmed Frankie Edgar with superior wrestling and competent striking as he earned the unanimous decision nod and handed Edgar his first professional loss in nine bouts. Based out of Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts in Las Vegas, Maynard took down Edgar four times in the third round alone and left little doubt as to who was the dominant fighter. All three judges scored it 30-27 in his favor.

Size, Maynard vouched, does matter.

"I'm bigger," Maynard said. "It was kind of like, 'Alright, he's a tough kid, but he's a little small. I think I can pick him up and throw him around a little.'"

A three-time All-American wrestler at Michigan State University, Maynard (5-0, 3-0 UFC) established himself early and grounded Edgar (8-1, 3-1 UFC) at will. He grew stronger the deeper the match went, and the UFC's already stacked 155-pound division added another worthy contender to its mix.

"There are so many guys [at 155]," Maynard said. "I'm not even close yet."

In welterweight action, the American Top Team's Thiago Alves upped his stock as he stopped longtime contender Karo Parisyan on strikes in the second round. The 24-year-old former Brazilian Muay Thai champion has recorded five wins in a row since his loss to Jon Fitch two years ago.

Alves (13-3, 7-2 UFC) appeared to lose the first round — he was mounted at one point — but roared out as the aggressor in the second. A little more than half a minute into the round, he caught Parisyan in the clinch and delivered a beautiful knee strike that crumpled the Armenian where he stood. Alves followed up with obligatory strikes for the finish.

Parisyan (18-5, 8-3 UFC) protested the stoppage but was clearly in no position to defend himself once Alves connected on his chin. "He was out...whatever, I won," Alves said. "I think the referee did good."

The Brazilian continued his quiet climb up the welterweight ranks with what was perhaps the most significant victory of his career. "I'm right at the top [in the welterweight division]," he said. "I'm here to fight against anyone."

On a night filled with decisive finishes (10 of the 12 matches ended in either technical knockout or submission), lightweight Nick Diaz provided the cooler talk fodder. Behind in his showdown with Kurt Pellegrino (11-4, 3-3 UFC), who nearly forced a stoppage in the first round, Diaz secured a clever triangle choke in round two, flashed a pair of middle fingers skyward and flexed his biceps in anticipation of Pellegrino's inevitable tapout.

The 22-year-old Diaz (9-2, 4-0 UFC), season five winner on "The Ultimate Fighter," has won all four of his fights inside the Octagon by submission, the last two by triangle choke.

"Sometimes people think the 'Ultimate Fighters' are sheltered," Diaz said. "Not me. I ain't looking for no sheltering."

In an explosive light heavyweight pairing, James Irvin stamped his name in the record books as he finished Houston Alexander in just eight seconds and tied the quickest stoppage in UFC history. Irvin landed a glancing Superman punch that put the stunned Nebraskan on his backside and then peppered him with strikes until referee Steve Mazzagatti stepped in.

Alexander (8-3, 2-2), for whom the honeymoon appears to be over, questioned Mazzagatti's decision to intercede. The 36-year-old single father of six has dropped consecutive bouts for the first time in his career.

"I get hit harder than that by my kids," Alexander said. "I had my hands up. I actually didn't feel anything at all. I was trying to get up, and next thing I know, the referee was coming in. I was still conscious."

Irvin (14-4, 4-3 UFC) disagreed and offered to fight him again — "in the parking lot" if need be.

"The first one barely got him...it barely got his chin, but the second one is about as hard as I can hit," Irvin said. "It looked to me like he was already out. I would give anything to fight Houston again right now."

Meanwhile, Matt Hamill, a product of "The Ultimate Fighter" season three, ruined Tim Boetsch's second Octagon appearance with second-round strikes, but paid for his efforts with a nasty gash across his bottom lip. Boetsch (7-2, 1-1 UFC) controlled the stand-up exchanges but inexplicably dove for a takedown in round two and soon found himself pinned against the cage underneath Hamill (4-1, 4-1 UFC). Repeated unanswered strikes ended his night.

Lightweights Josh Neer (24-6-1, 3-3 UFC), Marcus Aurelio (16-5, 2-1 UFC), Manny Gamburyan (8-2, 2-1 UFC) and Clay Guida (23-9, 3-3 UFC) all were victorious in preliminary action, along with welterweights George Sotiropoulos (9-2, 2-0 UFC) and Anthony Johnson (5-1, 2-1 UFC). In fact, Aurelio needed just 16 seconds to submit newcomer Ryan Roberts, as he forced the tapout with an armbar.