Thompson walks away with Stittgen laid out (Getty)LAS VEGAS -- There aren't too many karate practitioners succeeding at the highest level of mixed martial arts. Meet Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson. He might change that.

A kickboxer with over 50 fights, Thompson made his UFC debut a spectacular one at UFC 143. Thompson sized up Dan Stittgen for a few minutes and when his opponent relaxed a bit, Wonderboy landed a nasty roundhouse kick on Stittgen's chin. He was out cold in a split second at the 4:13 mark of the first round.

That's a helluva bar Thompson just set for Knockout of the Night. The UFC awards KO of the Night, Submission of the Night and Fight of the Night bonuses usually good for $65,000. Thompson looks like a shoo-in right now.

UPDATE: Thomson got the award and the $65,000.

It certainly wasn't the fight of the night. Stittgen, also making his promotional debut, never looked comfortable in the Octagon. His strength is supposedly jiu-jitsu, but he never got close enough to Thompson to even attempt a takedown.

"No words can describe how I feel right now. I'm beyond happy to have this win.  It's my first win in the UFC and I can't wait to get back out there and do it again.  I took my time and felt him out," said Thompson.

Thompson's kickboxing pedigree is impressive. He reeled off 57 straight victories before moving over to MMA in 2009, where he's now 6-0.

Natal scores one of his seven takedowns (Getty)

Natal's takedowns too much for striker Kuiper

Rafael Natal isn't pretty, but his grinding style was effective tonight against young Michael Kuiper.

Mandalay Bay Race & Sports Book (Las Vegas Review-Journal)LAS VEGAS -- Cashing UFC tickets may not be an task this weekend. The top of the card at UFC 143 features some difficult calls.

The underdog price of plus-175 on Carlos Condit makes him an inviting play, but Nick Diaz is on a 11-fight win streak dating back to 2007. He's pretty much destroyed or broken every opponent along the way.

On paper, Josh Koscheck (minus-265) should be a bigger favorite over Mike Pierce. So why isn't he? Are the sports books and sharp bettors onto something?

Roy Nelson versus Fabricio Werdum features grappler vs. grappler. Does that mean we don't see any dangerous scenarios unfold on the ground? Can someone pull off a submission? Or do we see a plodding stand-up battle? Werdum is a small favorite at minus-155.

Listen here as Frank Trigg, Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole and myself made picks during our "MMA Insiders" show on ESPN1100/98.9 FM in Las Vegas.

UFC 143 betting odds:
Best plays in bold

Carlos Condit (+175) vs. Nick Diaz (-210) - Welterweight
Scott Jorgensen (+210) vs. Renan Barao (-250) Bantamweight

A composed Condit during UFC 143 prefight press conference (Getty)

LAS VEGAS -- This week has been all about Nick Diaz and George St-Pierre. There's one problem, they're not fighting at UFC 143. In tonight's main event, Diaz has to beat Carlos Condit to get GSP later this year.

While many on press row may be secretly rooting for the Diaz-GSP megafight, Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal isn't hiding his feelings.

I don't know much about Carlos Condit. Everyone seems to think him a nice guy. Married his longtime girlfriend. Has an infant son. Great mixed martial arts fighter. His father was Chief of Staff to former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. There is nothing wacky about Condit of note.

Which is why I hope he loses tonight.

Ed may seem like a jackass, but he's not. Outside of the Condit family and Diaz haters, it's what most people watching UFC 143 will be rooting for tonight. Along with Chael Sonnen versus Anderson Silva, a Diaz-GSP fight will be one of the most anticipated tilts of the year.

Fight Day Live is back today for another star-studded show from UFC 143 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Hosts Dave Farra and Megan Olivi will prepare you for all the fighting action and the expert panel of Matt Brown, John Morgan and Larry Pepe will break down the pay-per-view card and give their opinion on who'll take home the victory between Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz.

LAS VEGAS -- UFC 143 has brought us a new Nick Diaz.

That's probably not the case, but the Stockton terror showed some self-control this week at the prefight press conference and again at Friday's weigh-in. No pushing, no shoving. The main event is a go. Both main event fighters checked in at 169 pounds.

Some in the media thought Condit looked a bit drawn and may have had a tough weight cut.

Over the years, Diaz has consistently gotten a little close to his opponent during photo opportunities at pressers and weigh-ins. Frank Shamrock got the finger. He got up close and personal with Evangelista Santos. He got even closer with B.J. Penn. He almost got into it with Paul Daley. Diaz has two postfight dust ups. Once following a KJ Noons victory and the other after his teammate Jake Shields won and was approached in the cage by Jason Miller.

There was a bit of shock in seeing a thinner Roy Nelson. The former 265-pounder, once labeled a bloated truck driver by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, slimmed down to 246.

LAS VEGAS -- Athletes are athletes. Every sport has its stars, grunts and primadonnas.

Super Bowl 46 and the NFL have too many to count and so does the UFC.

Scott Bemis from the local CBS television affiliate in Las Vegas decided to mix the two worlds. Check out Roy Nelson and myself on KLAS trying to come up with our star QB, diva receiver, kicker, coach and the intimidating hitter from the UFC.

Everyone loves the NFL. The audience in the U.S. is expected to top 150 million. Plenty of fighters will be glued to a TV set or partying around Super Bowl 46. The promotion asked a bunch of the fighters at UFC 143 for their plays on the game.

Georges St-Pierre, UFC welterweight champion
"I've not a clue about the rules of football but I will be screaming for New York because it's the closest city to Montreal."

Carlos Condit, UFC interim welterweight title challenger
"I'm going to take the New York Giants. Sometimes being an underdog is the greatest motivation. I'm an underdog against Diaz this Saturday and it's going to be the weekend of the dog."

Diaz enjoying every second of the UFC press conference (Getty)

LAS VEGAS -- He's the most bizarre interview in the sport. Even the most savvy media member can't really crack the conundrum that is Nick Diaz.

So when some fans took their swings at Diaz following the UFC 143 press conference, they found out quickly even the best questions will probably illicit an answer that leaves you chuckling or scratching your head.

The first fan got up and asked Diaz what it would mean to him if there was a day when both he and his brother, Nate, were UFC champions. Diaz slowly grabbed the microphone and then had Dana White repeat the question. Great question, right? The answer was pretty straight forward.

"Yeah, that's what we're working towards. That's the idea," said Diaz (9:15 mark).

[ Related: Nick Diaz's straightforward fight approach defies crazy rep ]

Fan No. 2 took his shot and asked about Diaz's "Primetime" quotes, where he said to be a successful fighter, you have to love the sport so much that you have to hate it.

Diaz paused for nine seconds and let out a deep sigh before producing this doozy.

"That pretty much says it, what I said. That's what I meant. That's what that means," Diaz said.

White said Diaz is simply fascinating.

LAS VEGAS -- Gone is the polite Georges St-Pierre. He's been replaced by a guy who has demons in his head.

If anything shows St-Pierre means business about wanting to rip Nick Diaz's head off down the road it was the fact that he sat down with the media for close to an hour on Wednesday. That's when St-Pierre dropped the demon line and talked about having lots of street fights in his past. Diaz is the only bad egg in the UFC's welterweight division.