KRQE News 13 in Albequerque, New Mexico is reporting that Albequerque native Diego Sanchez will be fighting Hayato “Mach” Sakurai at UFC 74 in August.
Diego Sanchez, of course, last fought at UFC 69 where he received his first loss at the hands of Josh Koscheck by decision. A lot of news circulated around Sanchez both before and after that fight including rumors of a Hepatitis-C infection before the weigh-ins, which ultimately turned out to be a very serious staph infection after the fight.
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai is a Japanese fighter will a lot of experience in Pride FC, Deep, and Shooto. Sakurai did fight once before in the UFC losing to Matt Hughes at UFC 36 back in 2002. Since that time, Sakurai has widely been regarded as one of the top 3 lightweight fighters in the world. Of course, in PrideFC, the lightweight limit was at 160 pounds, not the 155 pounds that the UFC uses. Sakurai would have a very tough time making the 155 lb weight limit, so a spot in the welterweight division at 170lbs makes sense.
If this report is true, this should be an excellent fight.
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tom b
Ben Cartlidge
Shawn Smith
JStein
StuDog
LaM
Angelina
DAMM
oh HELL ya! Sakurai is a wicked fighter man! i always wanted to see a rematch with hughes, Diegos gonna have his hands full on this one, This guy isnt Kos. Striking, grappling, Sakurai does it all! finally an interesting matchu up! i love diego, but im gon have to go with Sakurai on this one..
Dr J, i got a bunch of fighter pics i was collecting for a page i was making, but its not going down..
@BV,
Email them to me if you want.
drj [at] mmahq [dot] com
sakurai is an animal with some hands diego is gonna have his work cut out for him HEY is anyone ordering this ufc coming up i aint u guys?
ok i sent some stuff over to you doc
@BV
Hope you put Wandi in those pics.. .???!?!!! LOL!
Hey, guys, you know Diego is the weirdest cat in MMA… like he is a Buddhist Mexican who does the silent cross when he gets in the octagon and lives like in his own little bubble where he has never lost! lol! I think he is nuttier than a rat in a peanut factory!
deigo has something to prove i hope he beats this guys ***
@Kansas, i think thats one of Diegos best tools, his will and determination. We have yet to see someone beat diegos azzz, Kos was able to frustrate him and pick him apart mentally, but he didnt really throw him a beatdown. Sakurai is not the type of guy to play mind games with Diego, hes the type of guy who likes to be the agressor and control the fight from the beginning, just like Diego is. This Fight is gonna be wild! like i said, im with Sakurai, Hes a more well rounded fighter and he has TONS of experience.
They should have added this fight to the UFC 72 fight card, atleast we would have SOMETHING to look forward to..
anyone even getting 72 i aint its like an ultimate fight night card except for the okami fight
me either rich, ill probably just download it..
Diego will lose in my opinion, but he is a good fighter I will give him props, but again I think he will lose…. well, officially, but in the outer land world of Diego Sanchez, where Buddha, Krishna, and Mohamed are smoking herb with him, maybe he will still be “undefeated”… lol… I still say he is nuttier than a rat in a peanut factory…
So here is what I’ve been able to find as far as the rest of this card:
There were rumors of Sylvia vs. Mir II…but seems unlikely
Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (Heavyweight Championship Match)
Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck
Tim Sylvia vs. TBD
Frank Mir vs. TBD
Joe Stevenson vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Diego Sanchez vs. Hayato Sakurai