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LAS VEGAS -- He carried a two-fight losing streak into his bout with Gray Maynard, but Nate Diaz had a scintillating performance in a first-round TKO win. The bout served as the featured matchup of Saturdays The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale event, which took place at Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center. It was Maynard (11-3-1) who took the advantage in the early going, scoring a takedown and looking to attack from top position. But Diaz (17-9-0) refused to stay on the floor and continually worked back to his feet, even after Maynard answered with a slam to the canvas. Once there, Diazs boxing did the rest. A stiff land hand started the assault, and as Maynard staggered against the cage Diaz unleashed a non-stop barrage of strikes. Dazed and bleeding, Maynard simply couldnt recover from the non-stop pressure. Referee Yves Lavigne gave him every chance to recover, but Diaz continued the onslaught until he earned the TKO finish, and Maynard stumbled to the canvas as the fight was waved off at the 2:38 mark of the first round. "I could tell he was out, but he wouldnt drop," Diaz said. "Ive got to keep throwing to drop these fools. Maybe the ref shouldve stopped it earlier, I dont know." In the nights co-feature, Team Tate fighter Julianna Pena overwhelmed former world boxing champion Jessica Rakoczy of Hamilton en route to claiming the womens bantamweight tournament title. Pena rushed forward at the opening bell, walking through Rakoczys punches to get into a clinch and bring the fight to the floor. Once there, a relentless attack saw her move quickly to mount and unleash a dizzying barrage of punches and elbows from the top. Rakoczy tried desperately to escape the position but Pena was simply too much. Referee Mario Yamasaki watched the action closely, offering warnings along the way, and eventually waved off the fight with one second left in the first round. With the victory, Pena became the first female winner in "The Ultimate Fighter" series history and earned a six-figure UFC contract. "I figured she would go to her strengths and use angles and try to box me, but I didnt give her any space. I was relentless," Pena said after the win. "I never thought there would be women in the UFC, so to be the first female The Ultimate Fighter winner is amazing." In the mens tournament final, Chris Holdsworth (5-0) impressed in a second-round submission win over Davey Grant (8-2), also scoring a six-figure UFC contract in the process. Grant looked to be the stronger fighter to open, rattling off powerful punches that just missed their target. But a wiry Holdsworth pushed forward with counters and constantly looked to take the fight to the floor. Hed get his chance in the second round. After avoiding a few more powerful punches, Holdsworth changed levels and brought the fight to the floor before moving swiftly to the back in a crafty transition. Once there, he made use of the opportunity, immediately working for a rear-naked choke. While the first effort failed, a second attempt saw the arm slip under the neck, and the tap came at the 2:10 mark of the second frame. "If you chase your dreams, they will come true," Holdsworth said after the fight. "Daveys a family man and a role model, but tonight was my night." In the evenings opening matchup contestants Jessamyn Duke (3-0) and Raquel Pennington (4-3) each picked up clear-cut decision wins. Duke out-struck fellow Team Rousey fighter Peggy Morgan (2-1) over the course of their three-round affair, utilizing a crisp left hand to batter her opponents face for the entirety of the matchup. Despite boasting a reach advantage, Morgan struggled to find the target and was out-struck 123-34 according to a FightMetric report, and Duke earned the fight with scores of 30-27 on all three judges cards. "Getting this fight is a huge weight off my shoulders, and Im honoured to fight in the UFC," Duke said after the win. "I can finally share everything about this life-changing experience of being on The Ultimate Fighter." Meanwhile, Pennington didnt necessarily look to be clicking on all cylinders during her three-round clash with Roxanne Modaferri (15-11), but still did enough to pick up a convincing victory. Modafferi moved well throughout the contest, looking to create angles and avoid her opponents power. And while she attempted 218 strikes to her opponents 86, she landed only 22 per cent of her blows as opposed to Penningtons 60 per cent. In short, when Pennington pulled the trigger, she was successful. Although shell need to be more active in future appearances, Penningtons effort was enough to score a win, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. "Im happy with the win, but knowing my capabilities I didnt fight my best fight," Pennington said after the win. "I wasnt happy because I have very fast hands, and I didnt really display those. Maybe it was because of my nerves." TORONTO -- The Canadian Soccer Association released its 2014-18 strategic plan Thursday, with an eye on a huge prize further down the line. Hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup. "The process has to start now," CSA president Victor Montagliani said Thursday of a bid to stage "the grand-daddy of them all." Brazil is hosting the mens World Cup this summer, with Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) in the wings. A 2026 bid would probably have to be filed around 2018. Canada is hosting the womens World Cup next year. Getting that right is key to being able to giving the mens tournament a shot. CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean, has not hosted the mens World Cup since the U.S. in 1994. "Were the only G-8 nation to not host the World Cup," Montagliani added. "Weve hosted almost every other event .. I think its time for Canada to step up to the plate." By next year, Canada will have hosted every FIFA event except for the world futsal, beach and club championships and Confederations Cup. Montagliani says the World Cup bid is part of the new blueprints strategy to encourage growth in the game in Canada. Such a bid goes hand in hand with reviving a national mens team that currently ranks 111th in the world, sandwiched between Bahrain and Guatemala. While the Canadian women turned heads with a bronze medal at the 2010 Olympics, the men have not won since being knocked out of World Cup qualifying in a 8-1 humiliation in Honduras in October 2012. A 2-0 loss in Slovenia last November stretched the Canadian mens winless streak to 14 games. Canada is 0-11-3 over the streak and hasnt scored in 10 games. The winless run has seen the Canadian men outscored 27-2. Canada has not won since a 3-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Cuba in Toronto four days before the Honduras debacle. In the national teams defence, Canada has played tough opposition in Australia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Slovenia and the U.S. And coach Benito Floro has looked to young talent since taking over the squad last summer. Montagliani pointed to the U.S. successful bid for the 94 World Cup. "When they bid for the World Cup, I wouldnt say the game was in a healthy state in the U.S. both professionally and domestically. Their leadership group decided to put a bid together and I think that was a bit of a lightning rod for people to come together." A World Cup bid would require eight to 12 stadiums with 10 the optimum, according to CSA general secretary Peter Montopoli. All would have to accommodate at least 40,000 with more for the venue for the final. The CFLs recent trend towards new stadiums and plans to revamp BMO Field in Toronto help the CSA cause although much work would remain, not to mention questions about artificial surfaces. "There are a lot of requirements from a hosting perspective for a mens World Cup," Montopoli acknowledged. "Its massive." FIFA, CONCACAF and the federal sport minister are aware of the CSAs intentions, he added. "We have been trying to get to the prime minister. Hes busy. But we will be getting to the prime minister on this file." CONCACAF seems on board, tweeting its congratulations on the CSAs "ambitious new strategic plan." A bid to co-host the World Cup was possible, with the subjectt already having been raised with U.ddddddddddddS. Soccer, Montopoli said. With FIFA yet to issue its 2026 hosting guidelines, Montopoli said talk of a co-hosted bid "might be a little premature but it certainly is possible." The CSAs 2014-18 blueprint is titled "Leading a Soccer Nation." It is a pithy document divided into four goals with 27 sub-points. The four major goals are: 1) Invest in technical leadership. 2) Ensure consistent world-class performances by our national teams. 3) Govern the game in Canada professionally. 4) Encourage and oversee the grown of the game. The CSA plan also calls for mandating technical development across the country and establishing a national player database. The strategic plan was 18 months in the making with input coming from town hall meetings and an online survey (which got 3,000 responses). It also involved looking at the strategic plans of other sports in Canada including hockey, figure skating, volleyball and golf, as well as foreign soccer organizations from the U.S. and England to Mexico and the Netherlands. "Because we believe there was no point in re-inventing the wheel here," said Nick Bontis, director and chair of the CSAs strategic committee. Changes in CSA governance have made the association better able to institute its policies. The makeup of the CSA board is no longer made up of regional interests, with the emphasis on skill set rather than geography. Bontis says the new strategic plan will pay immediate dividends. "Weve never historically necessitated a certain behaviour by our provincial associations," said Bontis. "This strat (strategic) plan is the opposite. It necessitates certain behaviours." That includes provincial governance reform, investment in technical leadership and mandating provincial strategic plans. "Historically it was 10 different countries writing their own strat plans, their own technical plans, moving forward and somehow -- in some sort of magical way, Abracadabra -- the CSA was supposed to co-ordinate 10 national plans. That is something that needs to go away in the short-term." Bontis will be front and centre in the CSAs plan to create a national player database, allowing it to better leverage its 850,000-plus registered players. "We are in the year 2014 and we are archaic," he said. "Its an embarrassment how we register players across the country." "Harvesting a million registrants will have fundamental changes in the way we do business in soccer in Canada," he added. Players currently register with their local club, with the information and accompanying fees eventually flowing to the district and then the province and then the CSA. Bontis goal is for players to register nationally online, establishing a connection directly with the national program. Canada Soccer previously prepared a hosting bid for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, which was originally awarded to Colombia but then went to Mexico. That tournament marks Canadas lone participation in the event. Canada hosted the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1987 (then known as the FIFA U-16 World Tournament), the U-20 Womens World Cup in 2002 and the U-20 World Cup in 2007. This summer will see another edition of the U-20 Womens World Cup in Canada with the Womens World Cup to follow in 2015. ' ' '