Post by Mr. Orange on Dec 10, 2008 15:45:54 GMT -5
One giant post here.
Diego To 155: Top 10 welterweight Diego Sanchez recently revealed via his MySpace page that he again wants to bump down a weight class. "I'm training hard and will be dropping down to fight at 155."
Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White, at a public question and answer session on Tuesday in Fayetteville, N.C., confirmed that Sanchez's next bout for the UFC will be in the 155-pound division. "Diego moved down to 155 pounds. Diego's a 155-pounder. "
The move continues a cycle for Sanchez that is rather unusual in combat sports. Most fighters tend to move up in weight classes over the years, but he has steadily moved down. Once consistently fighting in the 185-pound division, Sanchez dropped to 170 upon winning the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter.
The 26-year-old native of Albuquerque, N.M. now joins Kenny Florian, Sean Sherk, Roger Huerta, Tyson Griffin, Joe Stevenson, and a host of other talented fighters to vie for the belt currently held by UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn.
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Sherk Wants Diego First:
Sherk is still looking to fight top contenders, and has some very strong ideas about whom he wants to face next.
MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday asked the former UFC lightweight champion about his plans for the future. At the moment, he is taking time off with his family, getting ready to sack it in for the holidays.
At the top of his Christmas list: a bout with Diego Sanchez.
“If he wants to drop to 155, I’d like to be the first guy that fights him,” Sherk said.
Later in the day, at a public question and answer session for the UFC’s pending “Fight for the Troops” show on Wednesday night in Fayetteville, N.C., UFC president Dana White confirmed that the first winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” was dropping to the 155-pound division.
“I think I match up great with him,” Sherk said. “I think his ground game is phenomenal, but so is mine. I know his conditioning is phenomenal. So is mine. His boxing… is okay. But I think it would be a great match-up. You get two guys that are really aggressive fighters who have great conditioning who are going to go and bang it out for fifteen minutes.”
As one of the division’s best ground and pound stylists, Sherk is well aware he may spend the entire fight fending off submissions.
“I’ve seen him at Abu Dhabi (Submission Wrestling Championships), and that’s when it really opened my eyes as to how good he is with his match against Marcelo Garcia; that match was close, real close, for ten minutes, then Diego made a mistake and got caught. But his ground game was phenomenal. So that would definitely pose some problems for me; I’d have to be at the top of my game, and wouldn’t be able to make any mistakes.”
Sherk would also like another crack at Kenny Florian, despite the fact he was victorious in their UFC 64 meeting that crowned him champion.
“Dana’s saying Kenny’s the number one contender, so I would love to get a shot with him, even though I’ve already beat him,” he said. “Whatever. I’d fight him again.”
A close, and maybe surprising, third is Nate Diaz. Sherk says the younger brother of Nick Diaz and winner of the fifth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” is hot right now and deserves to face the upper echelon of the division.
“I would really put him as one of the top guys in the weight class right now,” he said.
The goal is still the same. Sherk wants his title back, and will not accept any tune-up fights.
“I want to push myself and challenge myself,” he said. “I’ve got 41 professional fights. I feel like I’ve accomplished everything in this industry a guy could ever dream of accomplishing, and now, at this point in my career, I only want to fight the best guys. That’s all I’m interested in. I’m not here to collect paydays. I just want to test myself and finish my career knowing that I fought the best of the best and beat them.”
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Alves Gets Next Shot at 170 Title:
Reeling off seven-straight victories in the Octagon is impressive no matter who the opposition is. But to have the three most recent wins on that resume being against Top 10 fighters Karo Parisyan, former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes, and Josh Koscheck, that just begs for title shot consideration.
UFC president Dana White seems to think so too. He confirmed at a question and answer session in Fayetteville, N.C., on Tuesday that Thiago Alves – who maintains that resume – is next in line for a shot at the UFC welterweight championship.
Current champion Georges St. Pierre will defend his belt in a mega-fight with UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn on Jan. 31 at UFC 94. If St. Pierre is successful, he will then have Alves on tap.
When asked if St. Pierre would face Anderson Silva if he got past Penn at UFC 94, White answered, "No. If he beats B.J. Penn, he'll fight Thiago Alves. And then, if he beats Thiago, maybe we'll start talking about (St. Pierre and Silva) meeting at a catch weight fight or GSP going right to 185 and fighting."
White later clarified that Alves will get the shot, not only if St. Pierre wins, but even if it is Penn that wins the UFC 94 mega-fight. "He's next in line for a title shot. If GSP beats B.J. Penn, then (Alves) fights GSP. If B.J. Penn wins, then he fights B.J. And then he'd have to defend that title for a while before I let him move up and try to fight Anderson."
For those salivating over the thought of St. Pierre vs. Silva, you'll have to hold on a little longer, but it looks like the wait is just about over for Thiago Alves.
The same may not be said for Kenny Florian, who has been patiently waiting for his opportunity to challenge for the UFC lightweight title that Penn currently holds.
After Florian defeated Joe Stevenson recently at UFC 91, White told ESPN during a post-event telecast. “I said the winner of this fight is the next 155-pound challenger.”
But if Penn is successful in moving up and wresting away St. Pierre's welterweight strap, it looks like Florian may have to make the tough choice on whether to keep the bench warm a little longer and in waiting for Penn or risk his position on the title contention ladder by facing another top fighter in the lightweight division.
Diego To 155: Top 10 welterweight Diego Sanchez recently revealed via his MySpace page that he again wants to bump down a weight class. "I'm training hard and will be dropping down to fight at 155."
Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White, at a public question and answer session on Tuesday in Fayetteville, N.C., confirmed that Sanchez's next bout for the UFC will be in the 155-pound division. "Diego moved down to 155 pounds. Diego's a 155-pounder. "
The move continues a cycle for Sanchez that is rather unusual in combat sports. Most fighters tend to move up in weight classes over the years, but he has steadily moved down. Once consistently fighting in the 185-pound division, Sanchez dropped to 170 upon winning the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter.
The 26-year-old native of Albuquerque, N.M. now joins Kenny Florian, Sean Sherk, Roger Huerta, Tyson Griffin, Joe Stevenson, and a host of other talented fighters to vie for the belt currently held by UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn.
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Sherk Wants Diego First:
Sherk is still looking to fight top contenders, and has some very strong ideas about whom he wants to face next.
MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday asked the former UFC lightweight champion about his plans for the future. At the moment, he is taking time off with his family, getting ready to sack it in for the holidays.
At the top of his Christmas list: a bout with Diego Sanchez.
“If he wants to drop to 155, I’d like to be the first guy that fights him,” Sherk said.
Later in the day, at a public question and answer session for the UFC’s pending “Fight for the Troops” show on Wednesday night in Fayetteville, N.C., UFC president Dana White confirmed that the first winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” was dropping to the 155-pound division.
“I think I match up great with him,” Sherk said. “I think his ground game is phenomenal, but so is mine. I know his conditioning is phenomenal. So is mine. His boxing… is okay. But I think it would be a great match-up. You get two guys that are really aggressive fighters who have great conditioning who are going to go and bang it out for fifteen minutes.”
As one of the division’s best ground and pound stylists, Sherk is well aware he may spend the entire fight fending off submissions.
“I’ve seen him at Abu Dhabi (Submission Wrestling Championships), and that’s when it really opened my eyes as to how good he is with his match against Marcelo Garcia; that match was close, real close, for ten minutes, then Diego made a mistake and got caught. But his ground game was phenomenal. So that would definitely pose some problems for me; I’d have to be at the top of my game, and wouldn’t be able to make any mistakes.”
Sherk would also like another crack at Kenny Florian, despite the fact he was victorious in their UFC 64 meeting that crowned him champion.
“Dana’s saying Kenny’s the number one contender, so I would love to get a shot with him, even though I’ve already beat him,” he said. “Whatever. I’d fight him again.”
A close, and maybe surprising, third is Nate Diaz. Sherk says the younger brother of Nick Diaz and winner of the fifth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” is hot right now and deserves to face the upper echelon of the division.
“I would really put him as one of the top guys in the weight class right now,” he said.
The goal is still the same. Sherk wants his title back, and will not accept any tune-up fights.
“I want to push myself and challenge myself,” he said. “I’ve got 41 professional fights. I feel like I’ve accomplished everything in this industry a guy could ever dream of accomplishing, and now, at this point in my career, I only want to fight the best guys. That’s all I’m interested in. I’m not here to collect paydays. I just want to test myself and finish my career knowing that I fought the best of the best and beat them.”
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Alves Gets Next Shot at 170 Title:
Reeling off seven-straight victories in the Octagon is impressive no matter who the opposition is. But to have the three most recent wins on that resume being against Top 10 fighters Karo Parisyan, former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes, and Josh Koscheck, that just begs for title shot consideration.
UFC president Dana White seems to think so too. He confirmed at a question and answer session in Fayetteville, N.C., on Tuesday that Thiago Alves – who maintains that resume – is next in line for a shot at the UFC welterweight championship.
Current champion Georges St. Pierre will defend his belt in a mega-fight with UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn on Jan. 31 at UFC 94. If St. Pierre is successful, he will then have Alves on tap.
When asked if St. Pierre would face Anderson Silva if he got past Penn at UFC 94, White answered, "No. If he beats B.J. Penn, he'll fight Thiago Alves. And then, if he beats Thiago, maybe we'll start talking about (St. Pierre and Silva) meeting at a catch weight fight or GSP going right to 185 and fighting."
White later clarified that Alves will get the shot, not only if St. Pierre wins, but even if it is Penn that wins the UFC 94 mega-fight. "He's next in line for a title shot. If GSP beats B.J. Penn, then (Alves) fights GSP. If B.J. Penn wins, then he fights B.J. And then he'd have to defend that title for a while before I let him move up and try to fight Anderson."
For those salivating over the thought of St. Pierre vs. Silva, you'll have to hold on a little longer, but it looks like the wait is just about over for Thiago Alves.
The same may not be said for Kenny Florian, who has been patiently waiting for his opportunity to challenge for the UFC lightweight title that Penn currently holds.
After Florian defeated Joe Stevenson recently at UFC 91, White told ESPN during a post-event telecast. “I said the winner of this fight is the next 155-pound challenger.”
But if Penn is successful in moving up and wresting away St. Pierre's welterweight strap, it looks like Florian may have to make the tough choice on whether to keep the bench warm a little longer and in waiting for Penn or risk his position on the title contention ladder by facing another top fighter in the lightweight division.
