Diego Sanchez and Paulo Thiago awarded fight of the night at UFC 121
On Saturday night at the Ultimate Fighting Championship's UFC 121, Diego Sanchez secured a much-needed victory over Paulo Thiago. Sanchez had been on two fight losing streak prior to his
victory over Thiago at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Coming into this fight, Sanchez, the winner on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter reality television program, had lost consecutive fights to B.J. Penn and John Hathaway.
Thiago, a member of the Brazilian special police force, had lost his previous bout to Martin Kampmann via unanimous decision. Entering the fight against Sanchez, Thiago was the number
nine-ranked welterweight in the USA Today/SB Nation consensus mixed martial arts rankings.
This welterweight bout was important for both fighters; a disappointing result from either would most likely see them moved to the preliminary card for their next UFC match.
The fight started with some feeling out by both fighters. Sanchez then shot for a takedown that was stopped by Thiago. Thiago, a submission expert, took Sanchez to the ground and attempted
a series of chokes that he was unable to keep locked on. Round one ended with Thiago throwing a flurry of punches at Sanchez.
Round two began with Thiago connecting with some solid strikes. The fight then went back to the ground. Thiago, fighting from his back, looked for a few kimura submission holds that Sanchez
slipped from. The fighters then regained their feet and Sanchez carried Thiago halfway across the cage and slammed him to the ground. That was the point where Sanchez started to dominate the fight with his strikes and conditioning.
Sanchez looked very fresh as the third round started, while Thiago, breathing from his mouth, looked very tired. The fight went to the ground early and Sanchez locked Thiago into a choke
with a body triangle. Sanchez released the hold and delivered strikes from the mounted position for most of the round. At points, Thiago did try to make a fight of it in the final round, but his energy level was very low and he was unable to sustain any pressure
on Sanchez.
When the fight went to the judge’s cards, the unanimous decision went to Sanchez. After the fight, one of the most impressive of his career, Sanchez stated, “My motto for this camp was,
just earn it.”
With the victory, Sanchez improves his record to 22-4, while Thiago falls to 13-3.
After the event, the Sanchez vs. Thiago fight was named “Fight of the Night” and both fighters were awarded $70,000 bonuses.
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