Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight veteran and winner of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season one, Diego Sanchez, is finally making that oft-teased drop to 145 pounds. That's some pretty significant shrinkage for a combatant who's competed as high as middleweight.
Just ask Kenny Florian.
Unfortunately, "The Dream" will jump out of the frying pan and into the fire, as matchmakers are sending him into battle against former featherweight title contender Ricardo Lamas at UFC Fight Night 79 on FOX Sports 1, set for Nov. 21, 2015 at Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico.
UFC announced the pairing on Wednesday.
Sanchez (25-7) hasn't been seen since capturing a highly-controversial split decision win over Ross Pearson in mid-2014, one that snapped a two-fight losing streak. "The Dream" was expected to return to the Octagon later that year; however, a broken collarbone gave him pause.
Lamas (15-4) is looking to rebound from his technical knockout loss to top title contender Chad Mendes, who put him on ice last April. "The Bully" is 6-2 under the UFC banner with four finishes and comes into their Mexican standoff ranked No. 4 in the division.
Who ya' got?
UFC Fight Night 79, which also features the live finale of TUF: "Latin America 2," is headlined by the welterweight showdown pitting Kelvin Gastelum against Matt Brown, while TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero goes head-to-head with Brazilian stalwart Leandro Silva.
