this would be a great match. I watched the Matt H. fight and Hughes wanted no part of standing up with this man. He’d suppose to me the judo master as well. Sanchez will have his handful, a loss would be very possible.

Yes! This will be a good fight. I like Sakurai to run Diego to 19-2. Sherdog says 17-1, UFC says 19-1?

wow MTU did you know about this for sure? I thought you were BSing earlier. Holy Sh*t I cant believe this. This is a huge challenge for diego.

wow MTU did you know about this for sure? I thought you were BSing earlier. Holy Sh*t I cant believe this. This is a huge challenge for diego.

News broke on Wednesday. But it was a video clip that couldn’t be accessed on the KRQE site. I managed to get the transcript finally today. Didn’t want to bring it up unless I heard it with my own ears first from the source.

wow finally tghe type of fight diego should have been taking. Will Mach continue in the octagon if he wins?

This is awesome. Mach was recently #5 of my list of Pride fighters I wanted to see in the UFC. Shogun, Henderson, and Wandi are all headed to the UFC. Now they just need to close the deal on Fedor and they’d have my top 5. I really like Sakurai, he has a great exciting style with punishing leg kicks. I have never been a fan of Diego so I am REALLY looking forward to this fight. Since he was fighting at 161 (I know he’s a big 161), I wonder why he wouldn’t consider fighting LW at 155. Its only 6 more pounds to cut. Unless maybe he was already cutting 20 lbs to make 161. That would mean he’d stil have to cut 11 lbs to make welterweight 170.

This is awesome! It will be a big challenge for Diego and a great fight over all. I knew there had to be a reason for Diego fighting like crap against Koscheck cause he just didnt look like himself. I mean we didnt see any of who he usualy is that entire fight. If he can press “The Heat” to push the pace I would say Koscheck shouldnt have been a problem. Diego handled Karo’s judo pretty good so this should be intresting. If Sakauri beats Diego a great fight to see next would be Sakauri vs Parasian. Judo vs judo… although similar styles can make for a boring match-up. With that said though, if Fitch wins on Tuesday he also deserves a Top 10 quality fight as well.

The welterweight division keeps getting better and better I am glad I fight at 185 lmao! (not that I think I would ever make it to the UFC level but hey, im allowed to dream)

wow, this is gonna be an awesome fight, i’ve been waiting and waiting to hear who diego was gonna fight next and theres no way i ever would have expected it to be this guy, 74 is looking better than 73 if you ask me, i hope diego can find a way to win this one, i never doubt him, but this will be a true test…now that the undefeated thing is out of the way and he knows he’s not a knock out artist i hope he’ll go back to the real diego sanchez and put on a show…i can’t wait

also i hope the staph infection is 100 percent cleared up and not a factor in his training for this fight, this fight is very important for him and we need to see the real diego show up for this one, damn what a fight this is gonna be, i don’t think i could be more excited…

The more I read about UFC’s 73, 74 and 75, the more I feel bad for UFC 72. Poor 72.

I’ve never seen this guy fight, but his list of fights is pretty impressive. He beat little evil, Uno, Trigg, that’s pretty damn good. Diego may have his hands full.

Bout time they brought over a PRIDE guy who weighed less than 205.

This card should be called stacked

Randy Couteur vs Gabriel Gonzaga
Koscheck vs St Pierre
Pellegrino vs Stephenson
Sanchez vs Sakurai
Silvya vs ?

That just topped ufc 73

Silvya vs. Fedor??

..If this match up with deigo goes through..yeah good fight..what about Sanchez vs Hughes??

yeah hughes dominated Mach pretty bad years ago, when Mach was the heavy favorite…if Diego comes hungry, this will be a nice fight…i would give it to diego though..Mach is no slouch

Yes! This will be a good fight. I like Sakurai to run Diego to 19-2. Sherdog says 17-1, UFC says 19-1?

   They are counting his 2 exhibition fights on the tuff show with the record 19-1 and not counting them with sherdog 17-1. This should be a great fight, unless diego chooses to stand with him, Sakurai is out of diego’s league in this department, I’m sure he doesn’t want a repeat of his last fight and will try to ground and pound. This card is more “stacked” than the ufc 73 card it should be a very good card. Both Ufc 73 and 74 look very promising unlike ufc 72 which looks very weak, not even a title fight.

goodnight diego!

News broke on Wednesday. But it was a video clip that couldn’t be accessed on the KRQE site. I managed to get the transcript finally today. Didn’t want to bring it up unless I heard it with my own ears first from the source.

Another great fight. I really hope diego comes full steam this time. This could really turn out to be a great fight. I don’t care for Diego, but if he brings his game, and fights like he is still undefeated, then he should take this one. Mach is better then when he faced Matt, and it should be good test for Diego coming of his horrible loss.

Later
Chris Valentine

yeah hughes dominated Mach pretty bad years ago, when Mach was the heavy favorite…if Diego comes hungry, this will be a nice fight…i would give it to diego though..Mach is no slouch

My thought exactly. Diego should come into this fight with hands of fire, hopefully ready to fight and healthy. Im not a Diego ‘fan’ but dude has talent, and the ground game to make this fight a win for him.

If Diego is healthy instead of on the verge of retirement from a strength-sapping mystery ailment he’ll give Mach all he can handle. And kos can stop his gloating because he needed a freaking decision to beat a guy who couldn’t have been at more than 50 percent.

My thoughts on this:

Diego is a great fighter, and this is MMA, but he’ll be 17-2. Mach is just way too good. Remember, a lot of his losses have come against guys that outweighed him by 20 lbs. In the UFC he wont have to ever face that. A lot of ppl, including me, think Mach is at the pinnacle of his career and are dying for a rematch with Gomi. Mach is way too well rounded right now for many 170ers to stand in his way. He beats Diego, and I think he’ll get the loser of Kos/GSP for his title shot. Like Mania said, he is a BIG 161er, though he never cut 20 lbs. Most Japanese, as I have said numerous times, dont cut weight like Americans. You wont see a Japanese fighter looking like Page and Liddell did at the weighins.

Mach is pronouced ma-ha for the new fans, not as in MACH 2.

I think diego could handle him on the ground but would lose on his feet, simple as that. Diego is unreal on the ground and I feel he could hang with any welter weight on the ground, when he’s at the top of his game. He just has this uncanny ability to get on top or get his opponents back, I think diego wins this won, if he sticks with what got him undefeated in 19 fights.

mtu, you said some things that i think play right into Diegos advantage. Mach is a Japanese fighter, through and through. natural 160, fights the best and knows losing isnt catostrophic….now Diego on the other hand, will be 20 pounds heavier than Mach on fight night, and to someone like Diego, losing is catastrophic….as much as Mach has improved on the ground, i still think Diego will be better than him..Diego was known to train like a mad man anyways, i think he will come ready for this fight and take it to Mach

If Sakauri beats Diego a great fight to see next would be Sakauri vs Parasian. Judo vs judo…

I have never seen Sakauri fight but I am a big fan of Karo..
man i would love to see a judo vs. judo fight especiall since i’ve been hearing that sakauri is a good stand up fighter…

Now in regards to Diego and Sakauri, I cannot predict the outcome but what I have seen from diego is that he is a straight up grinder when it comes to fighting(with the exception of the Kos fight) and with that being said I believe diego will give us a good show no matter who he fights..

Im not a Diego "fan’ but dude has talent, and the ground game to make this fight a win for him.

I agree with you on that diego has the ground game to make this fight a win for him..but..the word talent I’ve noticed is being used a little too loosly..
I mean I’m not trying to say he has no talent..but..see my definition of talent is the ability to learn something in this case fighting at a faster rate than the average person would..An example of this is when someone is called a “natural”..
With this being said, I want to point out I in no way believe that a talented fighter would prevail against someone who works there ass off and has a limited amount of talent(Diego)..The bottom line is the only advantage a talented fighter has over another fighter is that their instincts in time of desperation would be better than the next guy I think…

this would be a great match. I watched the Matt H. fight and Hughes wanted no part of standing up with this man. He’d suppose to me the judo master as well. Sanchez will have his handful, a loss would be very possible.

Hughes dominated Mach standing and on the mat. Mach is too small for welterweight. This will be a good fight, but Diego will come back strong after his illness and loss and win this fight.

Look for the “Old Diego” to return and impose his will on Mach “ala the Diaz and Karo fights”

Bro, you need to watch that Hughes fight again. Mach looke like a fucking amatuer in the Octagon.

Will Mach continue in the octagon if he wins?

Win or lose, Mach needs to prove to the world just who exactly he is & who his fans believe him to be. 3 fights, 2 fights, it doesnt matter unless he’s fighting the best.

Diego should come into this fight with hands of fire,

Yeah, if he wants to get KTFO.

And kos can stop his gloating because he needed a freaking decision to beat a guy who couldn’t have been at more than 50 percent.

The point was not for Kos to dominate Diego….the point was to thand Diego his 1st loss. Whether by decision or a serious beat down was irrelevant.

He just has this uncanny ability to get on top or get his opponents back

Diego is a master at scrambling as opposed to many who choose to get comfortable inside or outside of the guard & work their game from there. Diego seems to always be looking to improve his position while on the ground.

I think some are underestimating Diego based on his last performance, I think he’ll be fighting like his life depends upon it this time, one lost is terrible to him, two in a row is unthinkable.

Wow! I don’t know if I like this fight for Sanchez. Sak is a tough dude with a deep arsenal of talent. I’m on the fence here also. Love Diego as a fighter, but I would say this fight is a much tougher fight for him than KOS. Although Sanchez has beaten some caliber fighters in the past like Karo, Diaz, and Riggs. Well mostly Karo and Diaz I respect in the cage, point being that Sak offers a lot more threat. Sanchez definetly doesn’t want 2 losses in a row.

think some are underestimating Diego based on his last performance, I think he’ll be fighting like his life depends upon it this time, one lost is terrible to him, two in a row is unthinkable.

True but for Diego to lose to someone of Mach’s caliber is not shameful.

This is awesome i always wanted to see Diego fight against a japanesse fighter. UFC 74 is goin to be great.

Can not wait till this is a for sure fight.This will be a great fight if it happens.

I think diego could handle him on the ground but would lose on his feet, simple as that. Diego is unreal on the ground and I feel he could hang with any welter weight on the ground, when he’s at the top of his game. He just has this uncanny ability to get on top or get his opponents back, I think diego wins this won, if he sticks with what got him undefeated in 19 fights.

Agree all the way. Diego is quite the grappler, I was watching him grapple (I think ADCC) with Marcelo Garcia and hold his own for quite some time. Diego will take the ground game. Mach on the feet, but I think Diego has a better advantage on the ground, than Mach has on the feet.
I give this to Diego.

All the other events after UFC 72 make 72 look like a ultimate fight night show and even some of those show sound better than 72.

Go to Dailmotion and watch his bouts. If you come away from that thinking Diego has more than a punchers chance, God Bless.
Always remember, Pride fighters fight for a different reason. Things are changing, especially after Tito today explaining the pay structure of the UFC ( if you dont have the attention span to listen to the full Whoop Ass radio show, consider yourself a fringe fan cause you aint a real fan ). Pride fighters were always paid well. Now these guys are taking huge pay cuts to come fight in the UFC. You think Diego is hungry? Wait til you see a Pride fighter who now has to fight to earn a living as opposed to fight to earn a good paycheck. This layoff could be the best thing for the old Pride fighters. A lot of them are getting hungry again. Within the year, no belt save the LW belt wont be in the hands of an ex-Pride fighter. We have two now, the other two are right around the corner…. MoreThanUFC!!!!!!!!!!

Go to Dailmotion and watch his bouts. If you come away from that thinking Diego has more than a punchers chance, God Bless.
Always remember, Pride fighters fight for a different reason. Things are changing, especially after Tito today explaining the pay structure of the UFC ( if you dont have the attention span to listen to the full Whoop Ass radio show, consider yourself a fringe fan cause you aint a real fan ). Pride fighters were always paid well. Now these guys are taking huge pay cuts to come fight in the UFC. You think Diego is hungry? Wait til you see a Pride fighter who now has to fight to earn a living as opposed to fight to earn a good paycheck. This layoff could be the best thing for the old Pride fighters. A lot of them are getting hungry again. Within the year, no belt save the LW belt wont be in the hands of an ex-Pride fighter. We have two now, the other two are right around the corner…. MoreThanUFC!!!!!!!!!!

U r so right about that. too bad crocop lost it should have been 3 if u ask me. Why did dana choose Gonzaga again he is not even in the ranks.

a punchers chance? i’ve seen mach’s fights on dailymotion and he’s a bad man, but diego has more than a punchers chance against any man his size, ANY MAN his size, i’m not saying diego is gonna beat this guy, i’m not saying he’s gonna lose, but the dude has more than a punchers chance i know that for sure…as far as the “trolling” i don’t know why you can’t just accept other peoples opinions dude, i mean you’re a smart guy when it comes to this sport no doubt, but your word is not the only word, i’ve always liked you man, you’ve taught me a lot about mma without even knowing it, i click on every link you put up because i know its always gonna lead to some cool shit, but you directly insult people based on their opinions because you think yours is better, and maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but i’ve seen you insult some dudes on here man, you’ve insulted me more than once in the last couple weeks and it ain’t cool anymore, you need to stop with the insults and calling people trolls because they have a different opinion than you, i think thats “trolling” man…

Go to Dailmotion and watch his bouts. If you come away from that thinking Diego has more than a punchers chance, God Bless.
Always remember, Pride fighters fight for a different reason. Things are changing, especially after Tito today explaining the pay structure of the UFC ( if you dont have the attention span to listen to the full Whoop Ass radio show, consider yourself a fringe fan cause you aint a real fan ). Pride fighters were always paid well. Now these guys are taking huge pay cuts to come fight in the UFC. You think Diego is hungry? Wait til you see a Pride fighter who now has to fight to earn a living as opposed to fight to earn a good paycheck. This layoff could be the best thing for the old Pride fighters. A lot of them are getting hungry again. Within the year, no belt save the LW belt wont be in the hands of an ex-Pride fighter. We have two now, the other two are right around the corner…. MoreThanUFC!!!!!!!!!!

Well MTUFC we will see. If you are wrong man oh man are you gonna get reemed for this those are strong words, I hope you are prepared to eat them.
And even if every all the upper three belts get taken, and so far, HW is still in the hands of OG UFC guy. Anderson silva I call will not be champ for long, and the “ex Pride” posession of the MW title will have been temporary. However, I will say this. Even if the HW does get taken and the by some chance Anderson has the belt for more than 2 more defenses, the WW and LW title will never be dominated by an ex pride guy. With Sherk, Joe Stevenson, Pulver, and all the other lightweights, Gomi has his work cut out for him. And with GSP, BJ Penn, Hughes, and Sanchez, there is no way the title will be in any other hands than those guys I named after Serra loses it.
Look, I know you clearly favor Pride, and are a man of tradition, but c’mon, lets not get crazy, lets not discredit the UFC talent pool, becaues as the future will tell (not me) it is def. there.

also, and this is just my opinion, but i wouldn’t necessarily call anderson silva a pride guy, he only fought in pride 4 times dude and before he came to the ufc his last 7 out of 8 fights weren’t in pride, so i’d say your whole pride is gonna come take over theory is a little off, your guys have one belt, the 205, i’ll call anderson silva a ufc guy since in my opinion he never was a pride guy…also good luck with the ww belt, we’ll see where you guys stand after diego fights sakurai and diegos not even in the top 5 in that division right now according to ufcmania’s rankings…

sorry silva has 5 pride fights out of 22 fights in his career, but only 1 since june of 03 and none since december of 04, pride guy? i don’t think so…

haha yeah, and as far as LW goes, maybe when Gomi can beat Nick, he is worthy of challenging the upper part of the division, maybe Gomi should fight Nate Diaz next? If he wins, then he can have a remathc with Nick. Haha the LW title in Ex. Pride hands? C’mon, that’s crazy talk.

F*CK DIEGO

He looked like shit in the fight with KOS, and he looked like shit, becuz he IS SHIT

Anomaly you crack me up dude

Anomaly you crack me up dude

haha glad I could be of service. Yeah ya’ll know I respect all pride fighters and when I say stuff like that, it’s more to defend the UFC talent pool that is being critisized, than I am attacking the Pride guys.
Having said taht I believe Nate Diaz is well deserving of a titlt shot, I mean he beat Cory for god’s sake.

I hoping to see the real Diego Sanchez this time….

I think this will be a great fight. I think Diego is great on his feet. i don’t really know how good this other guy is on his feet but like spida said he has way more than a punchers chance. in my mind there is no such thing as a punchers chance. if someone who is unexperienced gos and fights and gets a knockout on someone really good i call that preparation. like the joe lozuan vs jens pulver fight. everyone was saying that was a lucky shot, punchers chance deal. i think Joe came to win and thats what he did. i think Diego also has awesome ground game. look at the karo fight. Karo had Diego on his back a few times and almost every time Diego ended getting his back. and from there it was ground and pound. Diego is an awesome ground and pounder too. I think Diego will come out on top here. Diego has always been my favorite fighter and he will continue being my favorite fighter. through the good and bad.

The point was not for Kos to dominate Diego….the point was to thand Diego his 1st loss. Whether by decision or a serious beat down was irrelevant.

The more I read about UFC’s 73, 74 and 75, the more I feel bad for UFC 72. Poor 72.

Ha, yeah poor scrawny UFC 72… the runt of the litter. Needs more time on the teet.

True but for Diego to lose to someone of Mach’s caliber is not shameful.

Diego better not try and stand with sakurai or he is going to get knocked the fuck out. I do not care what he thinks about his mexican chin or his stand up skills. Sakurai is powerful when it comes to being on his feet and throwing blows. Diego just needs to go back to his old ways of fighting.

we’ll see where you guys stand after diego fights sakurai and diegos not even in the top 5 in that division right now according to ufcmania’s rankings

Despite the rankings, I think we all know that Diego IS in the top 5 at 170. I know that & I dont like Diego at all.

Despite the rankings, I think we all know that Diego IS in the top 5 at 170. I know that & I dont like Diego at all.

F*CK DIEGO

He looked like shit in the fight with KOS, and he looked like shit, becuz he IS SHIT

I feel sorry for you man. Are you that insecure of yourself that you have to hate another man whom you do not know?

You might not like Diego, but he is for real. He stepped into the octagon when he should have been in the hospital. The Houston Atheletic commision failed horribly. Kos barely beat a very sick man!

After knowing what Diego was up against, I have a whole new respect for him! You might not like Diego, but such harsh words for someone you don’t even know only shows how ignorant you really are.

I feel sorry for you and the people around you.

The narrow loss to Koschek really did nothing to Diego’s ranking except put him behind Kos. Kos moved up and Diego stayed where he is. But the stakes are definitely higher in this one. If Diego loses this, then he gets pushed down a rather top heavy list and you have to start questioning his career. He did beat the Heat and Nick Diaz but noone else in the top tier- the “gold bracket”.

Listen to yourself. Diego should not have been in the octsgon in Houston. I don’t even count the KOS fight anymore.

Diego will be hungrier than ever, and he will make it a long night for Mach. Hughes dominated Mach and I think Diego is much more dangerous than Hughes.

diego training with gsp is gonna prepare him for anything at 74, he’ll be ready to go and we’ll see the real diego sanchez again…

diego training with gsp is gonna prepare him for anything at 74, he’ll be ready to go and we’ll see the real diego sanchez again…

We can only pray for the Real Diego Sanchez.
But I mean with all of the obsticles and dilemmas that followed him before his fight against Koscheck that would have anyone a crappy fight (The Hepatitis, the Retirement Talk)
Diego with his mind clear is overall one of the best Fighters in the 170 Pound Division.
I think the Ground and Pound is going to be used Heavily here and Diego stops him in round 2.
Deigo vs. Karo II?

yum.

diego training with gsp is gonna prepare him for anything at 74, he’ll be ready to go and we’ll see the real diego sanchez again…

I wouldn’t train with other top fighters because theirs a chance you’re going to meet them some time or another.

Luke, Hughjes dominated this guy, as well as landing several hard punches to the face before throwing him around like a rag doll. What fight did you watch?

where did it say he was training with GSP?

where did it say he was training with GSP?

I was thinking that myself. I dont read all the comments i thought someone found out something.

where did it say he was training with GSP?

i read that on another site

i read that on another site

i’m 100 percent positive i read they were training together, i’m just not sure where i read it, i thought it was on ufc junkie, but i just tried to find it again and couldn’t, i’m sure i read it though…

Go to Dailmotion and watch his bouts. If you come away from that thinking Diego has more than a punchers chance, God Bless.
Always remember, Pride fighters fight for a different reason. Things are changing, especially after Tito today explaining the pay structure of the UFC ( if you dont have the attention span to listen to the full Whoop Ass radio show, consider yourself a fringe fan cause you aint a real fan ). Pride fighters were always paid well. Now these guys are taking huge pay cuts to come fight in the UFC. You think Diego is hungry? Wait til you see a Pride fighter who now has to fight to earn a living as opposed to fight to earn a good paycheck. This layoff could be the best thing for the old Pride fighters. A lot of them are getting hungry again. Within the year, no belt save the LW belt wont be in the hands of an ex-Pride fighter. We have two now, the other two are right around the corner…. MoreThanUFC!!!!!!!!!!

LOL – What dude? not even gonna bother! All hail MTU the MMA God of Knowledge.

Luke, Hughjes dominated this guy, as well as landing several hard punches to the face before throwing him around like a rag doll. What fight did you watch?

come on man, Hughes took Sak down as soon as he could, Everytime. Sak took a couple punches standing up because he was battered with elbows on the ground(like cro cop was). If Hughes thought he could dominate Sak standing, why didn’t he try to stand with Sak the whole time and knoking him out??

I mean, Houghes dominated the fight on the ground, but you and Frizz made it seems like Sak is a bum.

My money is on Sak with this Diago fight, And I’m dead serious, too.

If it’s the good 100% Diego, I give it to Diego all the way. I call Diego will take his back, which will lead to teh end….

come on man, Hughes took Sak down as soon as he could, Everytime. Sak took a couple punches standing up because he was battered with elbows on the ground(like cro cop was). If Hughes thought he could dominate Sak standing, why didn’t he try to stand with Sak the whole time and knoking him out??

I mean, Houghes dominated the fight on the ground, but you and Frizz made it seems like Sak is a bum.

My money is on Sak with this Diago fight, And I’m dead serious, too.

Hughes beat Sak 5 Years ago when Sak didnt have much experience against top fighters and matt was at the peak of his career until he dropped the WW belt to gsp he was on a 20 fight win streak

Sakurai is the man, i’m a huge fan…but Diego will get him to the ground and keep him there for the decision. Diego will not, I repeat WILL NOT STAND with Sak. He’ll go for the takedown ASAP just like Hughes did. Sanchez by decision :(

Wrestler can be so boring at times:(