UFC 121 Preview: Diego Sanchez vs Paulo Thiago
Two of the once-most promising welterweight (170lb) prospects in the Ultimate Fighting Championships recently faced setbacks in upset losses. On Saturday 23 October, at UFC 121, these two mixed martial artists
will get to fight each other to see who can recover as Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez (21-4) takes on Paulo Thiago (13-2).
Recent form
Thiago was until recently the hottest commodity in the welterweight division, rising up all the way to number five in the rankings. After having entered the UFC with a perfect 10-0 record, he scored a huge
upset knock-out victory over Josh Koscheck at UFC 95. At that he took on number two Jon Fitch and lost, but earned accolades for his performance. Two more wins, including a spectacular knock-down and submission of Mike Swick put him on route for a title shot,
and it seemed like he would roll over Martin Kampmann to win.
Instead he was soundly out-grappled and dominated in June by the fighter, dropping him down a huge peg.
Sanchez spent most of his career in the welterweight division, and went 4-0 in the UFC and 17-0 overall before he lost two consecutive fights to Koscheck and Fitch. After recording a couple of wins, he dropped
down to the lightweight (155lb) division, won two consecutive high-profile fights in a row and then challenged for the title, but got a one-sided beat-down from then-champion B.J Penn for his efforts. He jumped back up to 170lb after the fight and took a fight
against John Hathaway in May, and as the favourite instead got out-struck, out-wrestled and generally beaten down.
Style
Sanchez’s style is to provide an unrelenting attack against his opponents, whether on the feet or one the ground. Willing to wade in and trade blows with reckless abandon, he also uses his considerable wrestling
ability to hold opponents down and tire them out and keep them down with a frenetic wrestling attack. He’s not one to go for too many submissions, but he’s shown he’s very aware and adept at avoiding submissions.
He also has the attitude of being unstoppable, which he proved by taking a savage beating against Penn, but refusing to quit the whole time until he was finally stopped by a cut.
Thiago has heavy, heavy hands, if somewhat unorthodox punching ability. More technically sound strikers like Koscheck and Swick have previously briefly exposed his deficiencies before getting hurt badly by
Thiago, as the Brazilian has the power to make another fighter pay with one punch.
Wrestling isn’t his strong suit, but he does possess a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and showed quick thinking in his submission of Swick, and ended his first six fights by submission.
Both these fighters are now something of unknown qualities, and it’s easy to see why either or them would win. As a result they’re both virtually dead even on bookmakers’ lines.
This one is too close to call either way, and probably not worth betting on. Still, Thiago has a decent chance of pulling off a guillotine submission victory as Sanchez will try to take him down to the ground.
Tags: