#2 Worst: The bizarre case of Diego Sanchez and his new coach
Diego Sanchez appeared to be in trouble even before last night’s fight with Michel Pereira began. Sure, on paper the veteran matched up well with ‘Demolidor’, as he appeared to have a big advantage in both grappling and in conditioning, but he’d also abandoned his longtime training team in 2019 and had replaced them with a single man – Josh Fabia – with little experience in MMA.
Sanchez looked every bit his 38 years last night and was being destroyed by Pereira, who displayed a lot more control in his assaults than he’d done in his previous UFC appearances.
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It looked like only a matter of time before ‘The Nightmare’ was knocked out – despite Fabia telling him he’d won the first round – but when the killer blow came, it came in the form of an illegal knee.
Moments later – despite the doctor appearing to suggest he could continue to fight – Sanchez told referee Jason Herzog he couldn’t see out of his left eye, and the fight was called off, with ‘The Nightmare’ being awarded a win by DQ.
I refuse to believe Sanchez looked for an easy way out last night – he’s just not that kind of fighter – but he certainly got lucky to an extent and as a longtime fan of his, it’s simply horrible to see him fighting in this manner seemingly due to such a questionable coach.
Had he been KO’d last night there may well have been calls for his retirement, and while I won’t go that far, I will say that I’m uneasy about seeing him fight again with Fabia in his corner, which is sad.
#3 Worst: Borg’s weight miss taints his win
Make no mistake about it, Ray Borg looked fantastic last night. ‘The Taxmexican Devil’ showed the kind of form that earned him a Flyweight title shot in 2017 by completely dominating the tough Rogerio Bontorin with his grappling, taking the Brazilian down on numerous occasions and acting practically like a human backpack for most of the fight.
Usually a win like this would put a fighter into title contention, but for Borg, I’m not sure that’s the case. Why? Because for the 3rd time in the UFC as a Flyweight – and 4th overall – he missed weight, coming in at 128lbs, 3lbs over the 125lbs limit. That’s simply inexcusable at the UFC level, and means that ‘The Tazmexican Devil’ remains in a holding pattern of sorts.
Should he be fighting at 135lbs? It’s debatable – despite missing weight there too on one occasion, he looks just too small to face off with the bigger men in that division, and yet he clearly struggles to cut down to Flyweight. So despite picking up a big win last night, it’s clear that he’s at a crossroads of sorts, and he won’t be able to truly progress until he sorts this issue out.