LAS VEGAS — It may not be the way Nate Diaz envisioned earning the title of The Ultimate Fighter, but he’ll certainly take it.

Diaz earned the title at :20 of Round 2 when Manny Gamburyan tapped after he hurt his shoulder during a takedown attempt.

“My shoulder popped out,” said Gamburyan, after the fight. “This is a reoccurring injury.”

In the main event, B.J. Penn (12-4-1) defeated Jens Pulver (21-8-1) with a rear naked choke at 3:12 of Round 2.

“How could I not respect someone like that?” said Pulver after the fight. “I respect him more every moment.”

After the fight, Penn suggested that viewers go to his Web site if they want to know how he felt about winning.

This was Penn’s night from the beginning. He took Pulver down seemingly at will, administered ground and pound and then finished the job in the second round. When he clamped on the RNC, Penn held it even though Pulver tapped and the ref grabbed his arm.

In other action

• Roger Huerta (20-1-1) defeated Doug Evans (6-1). In the first round, Evans, a superb wrestler, gave Huerta everything he could handle. When “El Matador” came out in the second round, he seemed to bring with him some major attitude.
• Thales Leites (12-1) defeated Floyd Sword (14-3).
• The fight between Gray Maynard (3-0) and Rob Emerson (8-6) was declared no contest. Maynard scored a big takedown on Emerson, who tapped, but the ref ruled that Maynard was out and unable to continue because he hit his head on the mat during the takedown.
“I don’t understand this, man,” said Maynard. “I was not unconscious.”
Emerson apologized for the way the fight ended.
“I don’t want to see a fight end that way,” he said. “But, I felt dead weight on top of me.”
• Joe Lauzon (14-3) defeated Brandon Melendez (11-6).
“I didn’t want to take his back, but he kept giving it and giving it so I took it,” said Lauzon.
• Cole Miller (12-2) beat Andy Wang (8-7).

THE DETAILS
Who: UFC warriors
What: Ultimate Finale Live
Where: Palms Hotel and Casino in LV
When: June 23