Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti To Headline TUF 7 Finale
Diego Sanchez and Luigi Fioravanti, both fresh off wins at UFC 82 earlier this month in Columbus, Ohio, will face off in the headline bout of The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale on June 21st in Las Vegas according to Sherdog.
Official bout agreements for the fight have not yet been signed though both camps have reportedly agreed to the proposed matchup.
Sanchez (18-2, 7-2 UFC) won the middleweight tournament on the opening season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, defeating Kenny Florian on the live finale of the reality series. Following the win “Nightmare” secured five-straight UFC victories over Brian Gassaway, Nick Diaz, John Alessio, Karo Parisyan, and Joe Riggs and was touted as a potential title contender in the 170-pound division. Back-to-back losses at the hands of Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch in his next two fights derailed his immediate title aspirations. He got back on track to a potential future title shot with a first-round TKO victory over David Bielkheden on the undercard of UFC 82.
Fioravanti (12-3, 3-3 UFC) arrived in the UFC with title aspirations following a 6-0 start to his MMA career. In his UFC debut he was defeated by Chris Leben and left the promotion temporarily before returning at The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale and securing his first UFC win, a KO victory over Solomon Hutcherson. He again ventured successfully outside of the promotion following the win and returned with a TKO win over Dave Menne at UFC Fight Night 7. He was next defeated in back-to-back UFC bouts by Jon Fitch and Forrest Petz and again left the UFC. Following a first-round TKO win over Frank Camacho outside of the octagon, Fioravanti returned at UFC 82 with a unanimous decision win over Luke Cummo.
For more on The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale check out the MMAFrenzy.com rumors section.
Tags: Diego Sanchez, Luigi Fioravanti
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Headline??? Ehhh…..
Yeah, the TUF finalists better be a good fight, because I could see this being a one-sided affair. I just don’t see Luigi on the level of Diego yet, but I will be cheering for him.
gee, i can’t wait
are they doing this to try and make Diego a big name … a big draw…again??? Since he struggled, throw him a bone….in front of a nationally televised audience….so they can give him a big name again?? I dont know… as of now, im pretty dissappointed in this!
Jason N,
I feel the same as you. As far as the TUF 7 finale goes, I think the fight card could turn out very good being there will be 32 fighters on the show this season. A lot of interesting rivalries could form.(not that it always leads to good fights….just saying) However, Diego looked good in his last fight but the two previous of that were losses. One of which was extremely boring vs Koscheck. In my opinion, Sanchez would have to win this fight, another against a top 15 ranked fighter and then another against a top 5 fighter for a title shot. I think he is a good fighter but beating Luigi should not help his title contention.
why dont they have him fight Danzig??? Didnt Diego drop to 155…right?? Or was that just a rumor? If not, Id rather see him fight one of the following instead of Luigi…
Roman Mitichyan
Chris Lytle
Marcus Davis*******
Those are some names I guess…I know Roman is fighting soon, fight night I think…but still.. they need a better name than Lugi…granted people like Hughes, Fitch, etc…wont be available and especially for a tuf finale…but those 3 I mentioned would be a WAY better fight for Diego than Luigi…
I think Sanchez vs. Davis would be a good headliner. Both are usually exciting and I think whoever wins would prove they deserve to be in the top 10 welterweights, or at least deserve a chance to fight someone in the top 10.
first of all…im really not a diego sanchez fan at all…
but he did win the first season of the show, so it kinda makes sense to have him headline this finale…but i do agree that there are other fighters that would give him a better fight.. but at the same time marcus davis is already scheduled to fight mike swick in june so those two are out.. take away guys hes already fought and your left with luigi really being the best competitor for him to fight at welterweight
I think Lytle would be a better fight that Luigi – he is quicker and WAY more explosive….better knock out power….I bet he could stop Diego
I would like to see Lee Harlock fight Diego.
who?
Diego is one of the top 7 compeditors in the walterweight division in my opinion. He should be fighting someone like Matt Huges, they have a similar style and I think that would be a great match up. Matt Huges and John Fitch Would be a good fight Also. Even a rematch with Koscheck. Kos should fight his damn teamate Fitch. Maybe Carlos Conduit caould sign with the ufc and be also in the top 10 to fight Diego. Huge Weight class with lots of posibilities.
Condit has a long way til he’s in the UFC top ten. I think he is good and all that, but I still think he would get rocked by most UFC WWs
WHO IS LEEEEEEEEEEEEE HARLOCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK HE MUST BE GOODD lol
i wouldve like to see swick kick diegos ass, but oh well. i think theyre trying to give diego a fight to build him back up, but i honestly can see luigi pullin off an upset.
oh, and lytle would kill diego…
Never count a devildog out too early. Everyone also expected Cummo to beat him. Not saying this is exactly an even match up, but I wouldn’t say its a foregone conclusion just yet.
Lets take everybody back to before the 2 straights loses. Diego was concidered one of the top welterwights in the world. He could easily get back to that form again. Go ahead and light a fire under this guys ass and watch him start to man handle everybody again. Dont count this guy out. He is one of the best!
Lee Harlock must not exist. Nothing comes up when I google him. He’s probably someone’s older brother.
Diego is great figher, he can own the walterweight division in time. Look @ his fight with JON FITCH, it was very very close. Come on this guy went 19-0 and his only 2 losses, the one with Koscheck was bad timing(Diego was not a 100% in that fight)but he still took the fight) plus Koscheck is very powerful and is learning fast.
Lossing to FITCH & Koscheck was good for Diego it will fix holes in his game.
This is my first UFC event to attend. Does anyone know how/where/when to get info on the weigh ins?