Recent lightweight title challenger Diego Sanchez will make his anticipated return to welterweight at UFC 114, drawing undefeated Bristish 170-pounder John Hathaway at the May 29 event in Las Vegas.
The bout was announced yesterday by Sanchez on Twitter and is expected to be featured on UFC 114′s pay-per-view main card.
Prior to losing to lightweight champ BJ Penn in December, Sanchez (21-3), The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner, had won four-straight, including 2009 victories over Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida.
Hathaway (12-0) has remained unbeaten with UFC wins over Thomas Egan, Rick Story, and Paul Taylor in 2009.
UFC 114 is also expected to feature a matchup between former light heavyweight champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans.
For the latest UFC 114 news, UFC 114 fight card, and UFC 114 rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
Pictured: Diego Sanchez
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Good now Sanchez won’t look so anorexic!
Poor Hathaway
I would take the other view. Hathaway is getting a chance to make a name for himself. There is no shame in loosing this fight and he has won all 3 of his UFC fights.
I give Hathaway an outside chance of winning but I agree this shoud be a tune up fight for Sanchez.
Poor Sanchez, Cant even come close to hurting the prodigy at all so moves up to welter weight to get beat by the top teir guys there. Not a good situation for him. But hey maybe if he wins this fight he can get the loser of Fitch vs Alves
I think its a bit premature to make that statement. He has to get to a title shot first and there is a lot of talent between him and the title.
GSP is not unbeatable.
Digyourownhole
I dont think you understood what i was saying. GSP was not mentioned once in that Statement. The Prodigy is BJ Penn and he did not get hurt at all in his fight with Sanchez. Second Sanchez has already lost to both Fitch and Kos which are Top tier guys. So i dont think it was premature to say he is going to beat by the top teir guys when he already has.
Your right, I misread what you wrote and in my head heard “top tier guy”. Meaning GSP at the new weight.
My mistake though, I think my comment just said the same thing you did :)
hahaha exactly :)
he better start traning his kickboxing skills because his take down aint gonna work with these heavy stacked WW’s
Maybe since two of the UFC’s three manorexics are moving up a class we put Diego vs Nate Diaz. (the 3rd is Swick)
And just to be clear, GSP IS in fact unbeatable.
;)
By another fighter, that is.
Just like BJ Penn at 155, the only way GSP is going to lose is if he beats himself by coming to the cage physcially or mentally unprepared, like the Greatness did against Matt Serra.
Now that Penn is Marinovich’ing like a fiend, and GSP pretty much recognizes his MMA destiny, the only way contenders at either 155 or 170 are going to hold gold is if one or both men prematurely retire, or GSP opts to make a run for the Olympics, and drops his title in the interim.
As for Sanchez, he like so many other talented fighters are slowly discovering that they are unfortunately working in what one day will be considered the UFC’s Golden Age.
Champions like Penn, GSP, and Anderson Silva are not only guaranteed future Hall of Famers, but they’re damned near unbeatable unless they torpedo themselves.
A few more brutal wins [against the Mir-Carwin winner, and the BigNog-Velasquez winner] will put Brock Lesnar in that same catagory, especially if the UFC can ever free Fedor from behind the M-1 Global iron curtain in a year or two.
I agree that John Hathaway, an undefeated fighter, is being given a nice opportunity here, and Sanchez shouldn’t look past him or take him lightly.
The man is a product of the London Shootfighters camp, which is well-respected overseas. Here in the States Hathaway has been rolling with guys at ATT and at Tenth Planet, which has a fairly good rep for BJJ, so the man should know whats the what at 114.
Most likely Sanchez will win this one on his feet, swinging away like his life depends on it with Tony Robbins inspirationals coursing thru his brain.
On the off chance that doesn’t happen, or Sanchez finds returning to 170 off-putting in some way and comes to the cage at less than 100%, Hathaway stands to gain HUGE both in terms of rankings and probably a better contract, and it leaves Sanchez with the depressing question:
“where the He11 do I go from here?”
Yep! (except the GSP thing) If Hathaway even has a decent showing, this will be a plus for his career, even if he loses. The only way to blow this is to get KO’d in the first 30 seconds or to ride a bike for 3 rounds.
As for GSP, I agree somewhat. I agree that he is dominant but I think between GSP, BJ, and A.Silva, GSP has the most tentative grasp on his weight class. I think BJ has the tightest stranglehold on the LW’s, followed a short distance behind by A.Silva’s RNC on the LHW’s. GSP is a bit behind that. Still dominant, yes.
Ill throw Lesnar a some yards down the road. I think he is dominant in the HW (healthy) but he definitly has more to prove to be considered with the other 3.
if nightmare loses maybe he should lose alot of weight and try fighting aldo. farber or brown..ha
yeah i think his body would shut down if tried to that
What a great chance for Hathaway!!I really hope he puts in a great show and gains some new fans, even if he loses.
I’m with team Hathaway :)
diego is the man all of you are going to eat your words yes diego lost 2 at 170 but who the hell is hathaway he has not fought any big names and diego record speaks for itself i would be undefeated like hallaway if i fought all no names too diego you go baby!! kick some ass