In what could have potentially been a candidate for “Fight of the Night” at the upcoming UFC 135 event, UFC welterweight Diego ‘The Dream’ Sanchez (23-4) has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming bout with UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes (45-8) due to a broken hand.
UFC President Dana White announced ‘The Dream’s’ the news via Twitter (@DanaWhite) on Monday night, adding that the search was on for a new opponent.
– Diego Sanchez broke his hand. Looking for a replacement for Hughes.
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage is scheduled to take place on September 24 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. The Sanchez vs. Hughes bout was to have been the co-main event of the evening.
Sanchez returned to welterweight after losing to lightweight champ BJ Penn back at UFC 107 in 2009. He’s since gone 2-1 and cleaned up his personal life by moving back to Greg Jackson’s camp in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sanchez earned a record $160,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus last March in his unanimous decision victory over Martin Kampmann.
Hughes suffered a 21-second knockout loss to B.J. Penn in their third professional meeting last November at UFC 123. The defeat ended a three fight win streak which saw Hughes beat Ricardo Almeida at UFC 117, Renzo Gracie at UFC 112, and Matt Serra at UFC 98.