UFC Fight Night ‘Henderson vs. Khabilov’ Preview

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Lightweights

Diego Sanchez (24-7, 13-7 UFC) vs. Ross Pearson (15-6, 7-3 UFC)

The Matchup: As the middleweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 1,” Sanchez deserves much of the credit for putting Albuquerque on the map. Without Sanchez getting plenty of airtime on the reality show and then experiencing success in the Octagon, it might have taken Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn a little longer to put together their renowned fight team. For that, Sanchez is more than deserving of the opportunity to fight in front of his hometown fans in the UFC’s first-ever journey to New Mexico.

As a fighter, Sanchez probably peaked in 2009, when he came up short in a bid for the lightweight title against B.J. Penn at UFC 107. “The Dream” has had mixed results since then, posting a 3-4 mark in the Octagon while bouncing between 170 and 155 pounds. The Jackson-Wink MMA stalwart still fills a valuable role for the promotion as someone capable of putting on a fan-friendly slugfest, but the tradeoff is that Sanchez will struggle if he is unable to bait his opponent into a brawl. At no point was this more evident than at UFC 171, where Myles Jury picked him apart for three largely uncompetitive rounds. After his wild clash with Gilbert Melendez at UFC 166, it was a highly disappointing result for Sanchez.

In this matchup, the southpaw Sanchez will have a three-inch reach advantage against Pearson, who attempted a short-lived stint at featherweight before returning to 155 pounds in December 2012. Unlike Jury, Pearson is not likely to make a living on the outside. The Brit is a technical boxer who has demonstrated good patience when pursuing the finish. He can counter effectively and land combinations to the head and body, and he slips punches well. All of these qualities are in stark contrast to Sanchez, whose main strategy seems to be to rush forward winging punches with reckless abandon before powering for takedowns. If an opponent gets careless, as Melendez did in the third round of UFC 166, this approach can still be successful. However, the wrestling and submission grappling that carried Sanchez so often early in his UFC career has been largely absent of late.

If Sanchez is unable to get Pearson -- who has a solid 81 percent takedown defense rate, according to FightMetric.com -- to the mat, he risks being outboxed by someone who is not likely to lose his composure when the punches start flying. Considering recent history and Sanchez’s less-than-impressive 21 percent takedown success rate, that could be a lot to ask.

Of course, the wildcard in any Sanchez fight is his unwavering heart and tenacity. No matter how many solid combinations Pearson might land, Sanchez will keep coming forward, and sometimes that has a tendency to wear on an opponent. Sanchez has a history of third-round magic, but a finish will be necessary if he is behind on the scorecards.

The Pick: Pearson has problems with more athletic fighters such as Cub Swanson, Edson Barboza or Melvin Guillard, but, as previously mentioned, Sanchez relies more on heart than physical gifts. Look for Pearson’s superior boxing to help him build a lead on the scorecards before he holds off a furious surge down the stretch in a “Fight of the Night” candidate. Pearson wins by decision.

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