Why are my fights exciting? Ask yourself that. It’s because I risk it, man. I want to fight. I want to step in there and go to war. I want to leave it all out there in the cage, instead of giving a boring-ass fight like Houston Alexander running around, trying to do a few leg kicks on this weekend’s Ultimate Fighter finale. That’s not what the fans want. That’s boring. That makes our sport look bad.

In an interview with SLAM! Sports, top 155lb contender disses Houston Alexander for his lack of action during his bout with Kimbo Slice. Despite the circling, the fight peaked out at over 6.1 million viewers, proving once again that Kimbo is a huge draw, even if he’s watching Houston circle, and circle and circle. And circle again.

Sanchez is set to challenge 155lb Champion BJ Penn this Saturday in Memphis Tennessee at UFC 107.

Quinton Pities YOU!!

The UFC brass can’t be too happy about this one. After lamenting about Quinton Jackson’s role in the upcoming A-Team movie, Dana White and the boys apparently have no choice but to re-schedule the fight to another time, likely after the new year. This is another reason why I dislike using the Ultimate Fighter to build fights. It takes forever, and something comes up (like this) and you have two of your main draws, in their prime, sit idle for up to a year!! What sense does that make? Jackson last fought March 09, and Evans May 09.

Personally, unless they’re injured, I think guys should be fighting every 5-6 months. That gives them 2-3 months to heal up any nagging injuries, and gives them 2-3 months for a training camp.

The UFC had booked Memphis, TN on Dec 12 for the Jackson-Evans bout, hoping to cash in on the fact that it is Jackson’s home town. Double d’oh!! Again, how does this happen? It’s like the UFC plans to go to England, spends months (and millions $$$) building up Michael Bisping vs Fighter X, and have Bisping pull the rug out from under them to do a side project. Lame.

The UFC has offered up another very good main event however, as BJ Penn will defend his 155lb title against Diego “YES” Sanchez.

...and he's frothing at the mouth too. Tremendous.

Goofy chants aside, here’s what Dana White had to say about his Lightweight Champion BJ Penn’s next opponent during the post fight presser:

The great thing about the 155-pound division is how stacked it is. And I think Diego Sanchez is probably next in line for a title shot against B.J. It’s a great fight.

I can’t argue. Given Deigo’s impressive run at 170lbs, and the fact he dropped down and immediately took out top 10 lightweights Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida…as well as put on one of the most exciting fights this side of 2009 (against Guida) and it’s not hard to see why Diego is next in line. He’s also young and marketable, maybe he can main event opposite BJ Penn when the UFC finally lands in Mexico?

In the latest edition of, “Inside MMA” Diego stated that the brass has told him a dominant win over Clay Guida would give him a shot at the 155lb title. Of course that title is being contested at UFC 101 with BJ Penn defending against a very hungry Kenny Florian this August. Either way, it would be a good fight.

Sanchez was on an amazing tear in the welterweight division, getting to 19-0 before dropping back-to-back decisions to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. Sanchez bounced back with two wins and was slated to take on Thiago Alves in UFC 90 but an injury forced him to the sidelines. Interestingly enough, his replacement, Josh Koscheck, got thoroughly worked over by Alves in the bout. Perhaps that weighed on Diego’s decision to drop down.

Sanchez looked good in his 155lb debut, taking out top contender Joe Stevenson at UFC 95. Diego is young, charismatic and marketable. Exactly what the UFC needs in an already stacked 155lb division.

By the way, there was no word wether Clay Guida would get a title shot should he win, so what gives? Where’s Guida’s love?!

Stevenson is like a top 5 gate keeper of the 155′ers, always the bridesmaid but never the bride…yet. Stevenson is one tough hombre and is still a pup at 26 years of age. He’s in a mini-slump now, having lost 2 out of his last 3 fights.

Both these guys can go and this should be a non-stop war, both on the ground and on the feet. You sure could do worse for a main event!

Sanchez initially resisted the drop in weight, preferring to tangle with the big boys at 170lbs. With six straight wins in the UFC, who could blame him? But then he ran into Josh Koscheck (along with some outside issues, albeit) and then Jon Fitch, who are big, big dudes. Next, he was scheduled to fight another monster welterweight in Thiago Alves at UFC 89 but a rib injury forced him to withdraw. The first guy to defeat Sanchez, Josh Koscheck, stepped in on short notice…and proceeded to get his ass handed to him by the bigger, stronger, Alves.

That may or may not have factored into Diego’s decision to drop down, but at 155lbs he could expedite his path to a UFC title, which is his ultimate goal. There are lots of new, fresh and exciting match ups for Sanchez at 155lbs, including BJ Penn, Roger Huerta, Sean Sherk, and a rematch with Kenny Florian would be money in the bank.

Incidentally, he wants to achieve said goal so bad, that he dumped former UFC ring girl, Ali Sonoma in order to focus solely on his title quest. Dude must want it real bad to part ways with Sonoma, especially since the two had been together for about two years.

Koscheck steps in on short notice, as UFC 90 is scheduled for October 25, less than two weeks away. However, Koscheck said he actually has not taken any time off from training since his last fight against Chris Lytle, and was in early preparation for his next bout, which was against Yoshiyuki Yoshida. One thing to note is that Koscheck is still scheduled to fight Yoshida at “Fight for the Troops” on December 10th.

Here’s a snip from UFC President Dana White:

There is nothing worse than having a great fight and then having one of the fighters drop out at the last second. But the one thing the UFC has proven time and time again is our ability to replace fights with ones as good as or better than the original fight.

Said his new opponent Thiago Alves, who has been on an incredible tear lately:

Josh Koscheck is a great fighter and I think he’s an even better matchup for me. I’m looking forward to fighting him, and I’m gonna knock him out.

If anyone can, it’s Alves. He has knocked out two top 10 fighters back to back in Karo Parysian and Matt Hughes. However, Koscheck has better stand up than either of those two guys, and will have insider knowledge how to beat Alves thanks to his training partner Jon Fitch, who defeated Alves in 2006. Even though UFC 90 lost a great fighter in Sanchez, they replaced him with another great fighter in Koscheck.

Top 170lb contender Thiago Alves tells the Chicago Sun Times his plans for his opponent Diego Sanchez at UFC 90 in Chicago, Illinois on October 25th.

Diego, meanwhile was a bit more reserved and obviously still harbors some animosity towards Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch, the last two guys to defeat him:

My two losses were both by decision. Unfortunately, some (fighters) will settle for wins given to them by judges and others will try to finish their opponent. I think Thiago will try to fight. I have respect for him as one of the best fighters in the world.

That he is. Thiago knocked out perennial top 10 welterweight Karo Parysian and then future UFC hall-of-famer Matt Hughes in highlight reel fashion at UFC 85. It’s safe to say the winner of this fight will be knocking on the door for a title shot.

On a side note, it would be awfully interesting if Sanchez won and received a title shot at St. Pierre. Sanchez blames St. Pierre for “forcing” him out of his Team Jackson New Mexico fight camp by joining them. I guess Diego figured since their paths would eventually cross (with them both being top 170lb fighters) they could not exist on the same team. Well, that’s one train of thought…the other would be something like American Kickboxing Academy, where top 170lb fighters Mike Swick, Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck all train together.