Ellenberger won the first two rounds and held off a desperate late charge from Sanchez in the third to take the content 29-28 on all the judges' scorecards.

A lively crowd at the Omaha Civic Auditorium was desperate to see knockout specialist Ellenberger take out Sanchez inside the distance, but a granite-tough fight had to go to the judges after three hard rounds.

A frantic opening round saw Sanchez taken down but bounce up immediately to signal he would not be overpowered, and he showed his courage in the second as he ploughed on despite being bloodied by a huge elbow from Ellenberger.

Despite being on top, Ellenberger could not finish the fight, and in the end he had to survive a desperate Sanchez who threw caution to the wind to try and earn an unlikely victory in the closing stages.

Also on the card in Omaha, Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve defeated Dave Herman in the second round of their fight, with the six-foot-11 giant dropping his opponent with an uppercut before pummeling him on the floor and forcing the stoppage.

Brazilian Ronny Markes won his first fight at 185lbs as he scraped past American wrestling specialist Aaron Simpson with a split decision after a real war of attrition.

Two undefeated heavyweights went head-to-head in Nebraska with Stipe Miocic coming out on top as he knocked out Philip De Fries inside the first minute with a flurry of punches forcing the referee to stop the contest after just 43 seconds.

Bantamweight TJ Dillashaw was a convincing points winner over Walel Watson, while UFC veteran Ivan Menjivar beat John Albert by submission with a rear-naked choke.