Tag: Diego Sanchez

15 UFC Fighters and the Perfect Companies to Sponsor Them

The UFC’s ongoing play for the hearts and eyeballs of mainstream America means changing how the promotion and its fighters present and comport themselves. On a practical level, that has manifested itself in part in changes to the policy governing fight…

The UFC’s ongoing play for the hearts and eyeballs of mainstream America means changing how the promotion and its fighters present and comport themselves. On a practical level, that has manifested itself in part in changes to the policy governing fighter sponsors.

Over the years, offbeat sponsors on T-shirts, hats and banners became a bit of a side attraction. Who can forget the once-ubiquitous Condom Depot ads? Even X-rated websites have slipped past the goalie once or twice.

But what was once quirky or strange becomes a problem under the brighter lights. As a result, the UFC (probably with the, eh, encouragement of FOX Sports) recently banned gun and ammo sponsorships. Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, these kinds of issues go with the terrain. It wasn’t the first time it happened. And it might not be the last.

But as they say, a door slams shut and a window opens. Suddenly there’s some empty real estate on those T-shirts and banners.

So why not take advantage by rushing in to fill that vacuum? Or, better yet, speculating wildly and possibly not entirely seriously about the most likely candidates to do such a thing?

There are all kinds of crazy companies out there that would probably leap at the chance to see their name and logo on the seat of a fighter’s shorts. What are those companies, and who would they sponsor?

Why don’t we take a look?

(h/t: MMAWeekly) 

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UFC on FUEL: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger Sets FUEL TV Ratings Record


Photo Props: UFC.com

Even though FUEL TV is still unavailable to most Americans, the UFC been a consistent draw for the channel. When FUEL TV aired the preliminary fights from UFC on FX 1, it set a company ratings record with an average of 148,000 viewers. This number was almost matched by the prelims for UFC on FOX 2, which averaged 144,000.

With the ratings now in for the UFC’s first live card, Wednesday’s UFC on FUEL: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger, FUEL TV executives have to be impressed. The three hour broadcast averaged 217,000 viewers, with ratings peaking at 315,000 viewers during the evening’s main event. Also of note, the event landed FUEL TV’s ratings in the Top 10 for ad-supported cable networks among the 18-49 year old men demographic.

Not bad for a channel that most of the people reading this don’t get.


Photo Props: UFC.com

Even though FUEL TV is still unavailable to most Americans, the UFC been a consistent draw for the channel. When FUEL TV aired the preliminary fights from UFC on FX 1, it set a company ratings record with an average of 148,000 viewers. This number was almost matched by the prelims for UFC on FOX 2, which averaged 144,000.

With the ratings now in for the UFC’s first live card, Wednesday’s UFC on FUEL: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger, FUEL TV executives have to be impressed. The three hour broadcast averaged 217,000 viewers, with ratings peaking at 315,000 viewers during the evening’s main event. Also of note, the event landed FUEL TV’s ratings in the Top 10 for ad-supported cable networks among the 18-49 year old men demographic.

Not bad for a channel that most of the people reading this don’t get.

Of course, the 217,000 viewers that UFC on FUEL brought in still amounts to roughly 1/3 of what the Diego Sanchez-themed episode of UFC Unleashed brought Spike TV (661,000 viewers). However, Spike TV is currently available in roughly sixty five million more homes in the United States than FUEL TV.

It can be said that FUEL TV’s viewers have been consistently supporting the UFC- fans with access to the channel have been showing up in record numbers, after all. However, the reality is still that while FUEL TV is expanding, most Americans still don’t have access to the channel, meaning most Americans simply can’t watch the UFC’s events on FUEL. It will be interesting to track the UFC’s ratings as the network expands.

Diego Sanchez Remains a Great Litmus Test for any UFC Fighter

Diego “The Vision” Sanchez (23-5), with his dream of a second shot at a UFC title dimming more with his recent loss to Jake Ellenberger, still proves to be indispensable as far as fighting inside the Octagon is concerned. After making histo…

Diego “The Vision” Sanchez (23-5), with his dream of a second shot at a UFC title dimming more with his recent loss to Jake Ellenberger, still proves to be indispensable as far as fighting inside the Octagon is concerned.

After making history as the very first winner of the The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) series by beating Kenny Florian, the fighter from Albuquerque, New Mexico has now lost three of his last five fights, starting with the failed attempt to wrest the UFC lightweight title from B.J. Penn in UFC 107 on December 12, 2009.

Some fans believe that Sanchez is slowly sliding down to journeyman and gatekeeper status; some argue he has already assumed those roles for quite some time now.

Still, regardless of how one perceives Sanchez’s present standing in the UFC, the fact that he’s earned consecutive Fight of the Night honors in his last three fights is more than enough to prove his worth as an MMA fighter.

He has now proudly banked five Fight of the Night bonuses and two Fight of the Year honors in his entire UFC career. (His first Fight of the Year was a decision win over Karo Parisyan, the second being another decision win against Clay Guida.)

In his last three Fights of the Night, Sanchez first dominated Paulo Thiago en route to a unanimous decision win on UFC 121, highlighted by that powerful double-leg lift-run-and-slam he executed with a loud, primal scream.

The second was the controversial decision win over Martin Kampmann in the UFC Live that they headlined; controversial, maybe, but there was no doubt it was an exciting slam-bang collision.

 

 

The third was none other than his recent UFC on Fuel TV main-eventer with Jake Ellenberger, in which he lost but finished strong, mounting and pounding on Ellenberger as the third and last round came to its end. (Heck, even Nick “The Herbal” Diaz thought Sanchez should have been the rightful decision winner.)

Diaz, the man Sanchez beat eons ago, may have overtaken the TUF’s first season winner in the UFC welterweight title contention picture, but the many-time Fight of the Night awardee is still main event material.

The Vision’s vision of a title shot has blurred some more, but he remains a rude welcome party for the up-and-comers, and a valid litmus test for those closing in on a lightweight or welterweight title. This is the quality service he just provided for Ellenberger.

Line them all up and toughen them some more through the Diego Sanchez crucible.

Who knows? His title shot may now be a longer shot, but he still might get and win it, most probably at lightweight.

Sanchez brings it on every time, and I’d rather watch him lose than bear seeing other fighters win.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on Fuel TV Results: Nick Diaz Thinks Diego Sanchez Beat Jake Ellenberger

While Diego Sanchez’s third-round comeback against Jake Ellenberger in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV made things interesting, no one was complaining when “The Juggernaut” won a 29-28 unanimous decision victory. After all, Ellenberger put on a c…

While Diego Sanchez‘s third-round comeback against Jake Ellenberger in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV made things interesting, no one was complaining when “The Juggernaut” won a 29-28 unanimous decision victory. 

After all, Ellenberger put on a counter-striking clinic in first two rounds of the bout, and even scored on a couple of takedowns. 

However, fellow UFC welterweight Nick Diaz didn’t see it that way. 

The Stockton, Calif. bad boy tweeted his opinion of the main event, shortly after the fight ended. Diaz has since removed them, but Cage Potato was able to capture the images before he did. 

Initially, the older Diaz brother tweeted, “Diego Sanchez won regardless what the judges think that’s what the fight showed!”

Immediately afterwards, the Cesar Gracie black belt added, “Sad night for old Jake E had this been real sh** he would be dead!”

Even the most casual MMA fans probably know that Nick Diaz is always good for an entertaining quote or two, and this is just another example of that. 

Diaz is, of course, fresh off a loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143 in a bout that determined the interim UFC welterweight champion. 

Condit managed to effectively keep his back off the cage and counter strike despite the fact that Diaz was the aggressor the entire fight. 

Diaz and his camp all thought he won the fight based on that fact, so perhaps the former Strikeforce welterweight title holder truly believes that the more aggressive fighter should always win. 

Also worth noting is that Diaz met Sanchez way back in November 2005 at the season two finale of The Ultimate Fighter.

Sanchez defeated Diaz by a 30-27 unanimous decision, according to all three judges’ scorecards.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on FUEL TV 1 Results: Predictions for the Winners and Losers

“UFC on FUEL TV 1” was a fun night of fights from the start of the show all the way to the main event. Now once again it’s time to ask: what’s next? What does the future hold after several dominant and heart-felt performances by…

“UFC on FUEL TV 1” was a fun night of fights from the start of the show all the way to the main event. Now once again it’s time to ask: what’s next? What does the future hold after several dominant and heart-felt performances by a variety of UFC talent? Here’s my answer to just that: a new edition of my “What’s Next for the Winners and Losers” series of articles, now featuring “UFC on FUEL TV 1.”

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Tweet of the Day: Nick Diaz Will Likely Never Be a Certified MMA Judge


(Under Stockton rules, fights are judged by who moved forward the whole fight and the winner is the fighter who takes his opponent’s back in the final minutes of the bout.)

Shortly after the main event between Jake Ellenberger ended last night at UFC on FUEL, Nick Diaz took to his Twitter account to post a rare pair of tweets about the fight.

According to Nick, even though pretty much everyone else who saw the fight agreed that “The Juggernaut” took the decision, he believes that Diego “The Exorcist” won the fight. I guess Nick missed the counter-punching clinic that Jake put on, or maybe he’s still sore that he lost the fight to Condit even though he was the one moving forward like a Sherman tank the whole fight and in spite of the fact that Carlos landed more. Whatever his reasoning was, it’s unlikely that he’ll be called upon by NSAC or CSAC to fill in scorecards for them any time soon.


(Under Stockton rules, fights are judged by who moved forward the whole fight and the winner is the fighter who takes his opponent’s back in the final minutes of the bout.)

Shortly after the main event between Jake Ellenberger ended last night at UFC on FUEL, Nick Diaz took to his Twitter account to post a rare pair of tweets about the fight.

According to Nick, even though pretty much everyone else who saw the fight agreed that “The Juggernaut” took the decision, he believes that Diego “The Exorcist” won the fight. I guess Nick missed the counter-punching clinic that Jake put on, or maybe he’s still sore that he lost the fight to Condit even though he was the one moving forward like a Sherman tank the whole fight and in spite of the fact that Carlos landed more. Whatever his reasoning was, it’s unlikely that he’ll be called upon by NSAC or CSAC to fill in scorecards for them any time soon.

It’s not that he doesn’t have the experience or knowledge necessary to become a competent judge. It’s that he thinks that MMA should be judged by Stockton rules — that and we don’t want him and Cecil Peoples sneaking out to smoke a joint during every intermission. Cecil gets preoccupied enough playing Angry Birds and tweeting to Chandella Powell about how much he digs her old modelling pics. He doesn’t need any more distractions.

As an interesting aside, the pair of tweets we managed to screen-capture were taken down by the ornery Stockton native within an hour of him posting them.

Now before you all start piping in claiming that the owner of the account isn’t real, it was in fact the “DiazBrothers209″ account that UFC president Dana White revealed was a fake account yesterday. According to Cesar Gracie, this one is legit.