Diego Sanchez heads home to meet Ross Pearson on UFC Fight Night card

[Dale]

In his quest to prove he still has something left, Diego Sanchez is going home.

The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner will fight in his hometown of Albuquerque on June 7, where he will meet Ross Pearson in a lightweight fight at a UFC Fight Night card at the Tingley Coliseum. The Albuquerque Journal broke the news Friday.

The popular Sanchez (24-7) has dropped two straight fights and three of his past four. The Jackson's MMA fighter looked sluggish in a unanimous decision loss to unbeaten Myles Jury at UFC 171, then made headlines afterwards by blaming his loss on food poisoning.

Pearson (15-6), meanwhile, was last seen in an odd no-contest against Melvin Guillard in Britain in October. Person and Guillard were expected to rematch last month, but a knee injury forced Pearson out of the bout, as Michael Johnson took the spot and defeated Guillard.

Sanchez, a seven-time UFC postfight bonus winner, is the third Jackson's fighter announced for the New Mexico card. Rustam Khabilov meets Ben Henderson in the main event; and John Dodson will take on John Moraga in a battle of former flyweight title challengers.

The bout will mark Sanchez's first in his hometown since a 2004 King of the Cage win over Ray Elbe.

Providing it's the Diego we all want to see and not the one who turned up in his last fight then I really like this matchup.

 

[Deezy]

That was the same old Diego Sanchez in that last fight, he just faced a guy who was a prizefighter and better skilled.

Bendo/Khabilov is far more intriguing to me.

 

[Hot Rod]

I actually think this is a winnable fight for Diego, if he doesn't fight like a damn madman like he usually does lately.

If he does, I think Pearson just picks him apart with his boxing.