What is Left for Diego Sanchez?
by Jack Slack on Feb 16, 2012 11:08 AM EST
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Diego Sanchez fought a 3 round war against man of the hour, Jake Ellenberger last night in Omaha, Nebraska, and provided us with what he called a "dogfight". Their meeting won fight of the night honors and after taking a savage beating through 2 and a half rounds Diego eventually mounted some offence when he took Ellenberger's back on the ground and began raining down his trademark ground and pound. While this was a great moment for Sanchez and his many supporters, it does not signify - as many are claiming - that Diego would have gone on to win in a 5 round fight. Diego was repeatedly lit up on the feet as he ran in with his trademark flurries and many of the moments where Ellenberger counter punched Sanchez could easily have been lifted straight from the BJ Penn fight at UFC 107.
Diego deserves enormous respect, he fought in front of possibly the most hostile crowd in UFC history who booed him at every opportunity, even after he had turned in a performance which was full of heart. Unfortunately he still showed all of the holes in his game that I commented on here. He still runs in with powerless flurries which either end in a predictable shot or a predictable high kick, and he still carries his lead hand down by his waste - SUICIDE for a southpaw. A good southpaw will never get jabbed, Diego seems to eat them non-stop. Additionally, while Diego has still never been knocked out, his chin is rapidly declining; the shots Ellenberger clipped him with throughout the bout made him stumble, roll his eyes or drop to his knees, while nothing that Sanchez threw on the feet even fazed Ellenberger.
Where then is Diego's place in the division? Clearly he is still tough enough to hang with the up and comers, and his win over Paulo Thiago showed that he can get the better of journeymen, particularly when he can force his game down their throats. However in 4 out of his last 5 matches Diego's holes have been exposed and punished - in the Penn, Hathaway, Kampmann and Ellenberger bouts his opponents were happy to walk him down, let him charge at them and take free counter punches all day. For all the emotional and physical excuses that supporters and promoters find for Sanchez, these strategies will work against his unchanging style on his best day. Intensity has turned to predictability, and you can set your watch by when Diego is going to charge in with a 2 - 3 - high kick / takedown combination.
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Matt Riddle
a standup exhibition for the ages!
Great post again
Happy to rec everything you’ve written so far :)
lightweight
Diego mused over it at the post fight presser, and i agree one hundred percent. All the weight training he says he does to stay at welterweight hasnt given him any more power in his punches, and the guy is always undersized. At least at lightweight the limited ko power wont count for as much, and size will be on his side.
And penns not around to devour his soul anymore
"he will have a two pound reach advantage"- mike goldberg
That is a great photo, Ellenberger looks so composed. I think Diego should go to LW too. Since he moved back to WW he has looked a little flabby to me. Apart from the Penn fight he still has a good win over Guida at LW and he is a big name so should be in high demand. Love to see him fight Pettis
StevenGiles is a huge MMA fan and also happens to be the best person in the world. He is also hugely pretentious and loves to have sigs that make a lame effort at exaggerating his own importance
What role is G Jackson playing in all this?
How can all his issues be explained in the context of him training with Mr Jackson, Mr Strategist, Mr Cerebral-MMA?
Surely if Mr Jackson was half as good as his reputation suggests these issues would have been addressed by now?
I can't think of a great southpaw striker that Jackson taught. Are there any?
The man might be great coaching orthodox but you don’t get far as a southpaw with your lead hand low and trying to jab.
Diego
Also left Jackson’s for a long time (2007 I think?) when Jackson let GSP come train with them. At the time Sanchez was “in the mix” at a shot at GSPs title, and he felt betrayed. Had he stayed with Jackson’s camp, who knows what he would look like as a fighter now.
"Oooh, she has got a big ole’ behind! I mean, I’d like to slap some barbecue sauce on that big ol’ butt and just uh burr burr burr burr burrrr. OOwwwwooooo!!!!" – Champ Kind
by HeadKickOfDoom on Feb 17, 2012 3:40 PM EST up reply actions
Really liked the post
I agree, Diego hasn’t evolved in a long time, but dammit if it isn’t fun to watch him fight. He was part of two of my favorite fights of all time (He and Diaz at the TUF 2 finale and his fight with Clay Guida at TUF 9). I agree in the fact that he will probably never reach the upper echelon that he looked destined to when he broke into the UFC fresh out of the TUF 1 season, but I think he can fit nicely into that Chris Lytle/Chris Leben kind of role where you know that when you see him on a card, you are probably in for a show.
"Oooh, she has got a big ole’ behind! I mean, I’d like to slap some barbecue sauce on that big ol’ butt and just uh burr burr burr burr burrrr. OOwwwwooooo!!!!" – Champ Kind
3 Options that come to mind
Matt Hughes – Originally scheduled for September, before Diego was injured. Now Hughes is expressing interest in fighting again, and Diego is coming off a loss. Neither fighter is relevant in the title discussion right now, so a win or a loss by either doesn’t cloud up any title pictures
Mike Pierce – Pierce is so close to breaking into the top 10. All his losses are to really good fighters, and by close decisions. Diego is in the same neighborhood as far as rankings and current situation.
Or the Kampmann/Alves loser
I just watched the fight
and had he been not so tired he should have choked out Ellenberger in the final round, i dont know if you have seen any fighter in the UFC catching Ellenberger and brutalising him this hard. If there is an extra round, which i would have given to this fight, the chances are high Diego would have won it. I see the strategy was for him not to strom on Ellenberger in the first round, as he is a well known 1st round KO artist. And then finally not only he goes 3 rounds but leaves the 3rd a winning round for his part almost finishing the guy, he was really very close, had he been not so tired he would have done it. it was a GREAT fight, a fight of the night and i hope to see him in the ring again. I dont know if you can tell right now any other fighters which decorated Ellenberger this much :)
Definitely Diego won a fan in me and Jake your post describes the fight a little bit one sided in my opinion, it was a GREAT fight in which Diego was AGAIN not KOed (permamently) neither submitted. He s got nothing to be ashamed of in connection to this fight> He said he have had some serious ankle problems going into this fight, which i have also spotted and with this, he almost finished Ellenberger , he was more than close really. As for me i cant wait to see him fight again, I think he has the most FIght of the Night awards from the UFC and definitely with all the reason. He is still one of the top fighters of the division
Follow me on Twitter: @szanpan
BE Civil War 2 Team: krcambell
"Maybe I m high.. maybe I'm not... maybe fuck you? Nick Diaz"
nothing even fazed Ellenberger?
Look at his face post-fight please :)
Follow me on Twitter: @szanpan
BE Civil War 2 Team: krcambell
"Maybe I m high.. maybe I'm not... maybe fuck you? Nick Diaz"
Bleeding doesn't necessarily mean hurt. I doubt the cut on Sanchez's forehead from BJ's hurt more than BJ's punches.
The stand up was so one sided because Diego has such limited power on the feet. On the ground he’s a different story.
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