Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
Welterweights Diego Sanchez and Michel Pereira are headed to New Mexico in February.
A battle between one of the UFC’s toughest athletes and one of its most unusual strikers was officially added to the Rio Rancho card, in February.
Per UFC Brasil, original The Ultimate Fighter champion Diego Sanchez will take on the wild, albeit reckless, Michel Pereira.
Lutão à vista! Confronto acontece dia 15 de fevereiro nos Estados Unidos! #UFCRioRancho
— UFC Brasil (@UFCBrasil) December 4, 2019
In his last outing, back in July, Diego Sanchez (31-12) dropped a unanimous decision to Michael Chiesa at UFC 239. The defeat snapped a two-fight winning streak for the 37-year-old, with a unanimous decision win over Craig White and most recently, in March, a TKO victory against Mickey Gall. Sanchez was a free agent after the Chiesa bout, so that means he’s signed a new UFC contract and will fight in his home state of New Mexico.
Michel Pereira (23-10) scored a stunning flying knee KO over Danny Roberts in Octagon debut back in May. However, the 26-year-old could not manage to keep the ball rolling in his second UFC appearance, dropping a unanimous decision to short notice replacement Tristan Connelly in September. Pereira showed both poor cardio, fatiguing noticeably by round two.
UFC Rio Rancho is scheduled for February 15th. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a rematch featuring light heavyweight top contenders Corey Anderson and Jan Blachowicz.